


Compensation

by redlerred7



Category: Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai
Genre: Concussions, Delusions, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fainting, Gen, High School, Japanese High School, POV Female Character, POV Multiple, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, School Infirmary, Slice of Life, Yuri, chuunibyou, eighth grader syndrome, imaginary fights, magi babble
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 15:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 56,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4629717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlerred7/pseuds/redlerred7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every action has its consequences. So what then would the consequence be for Sanae Dekomori when an imagined battle with Rikka Takanashi results in a trip to the infirmary for Shinka Nibutani? Shinka it it seems, is the one who will determine it. What will be her compensation for the wrong-doing committed on her?</p><p>[Multi-POV, friendship, romance, drama, slice of life]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Accident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, much like the rest of my works, I was watching some Chu2 one night and got struck by inspiration. As you know, I have very little self control so I began scribbling into my notebook like a madman. What you see now is the result. I'll have a proper description for this story later.
> 
> Enjoy if you can - if you can't I apologize

**CHUUNIBYOU**

In a dark room, a glowing pntagram illuminated two bowed girls. One had a hair colored an eerie violet. The other was a blond with twin tails that reached her waist.

The girl with dark hair raised her head, revealing that she wore and eye patch over her right eye. She spoke with a commanding tone. "I have been neglecting you, my servant. I, The Eye of the Wicked Lord, Rikka Takanashi, have a responsibility to you as your master. In the event that I meet my demise at the hands of the Bureau, I must have someone worthy to take my place. Kumin Tsuyuri, the direct heir to my power, is far too weak in her current state. This is why I must ask you, Dekomori, to succeed me in her stead."

The girl in twin tails raised her head as well, nodding.

"I, Sanae Dekomori, wielder of the Mjolnir Hammer, will rise up to this challenge! I am blessed to know that you thing I am fit to take your place!"

Rikka shook her head. She raised her palm towards Sanae. "That has yet to be decided. Your worthiness of replacing me shall be decided. By. Combat!"

Sanae took her twin tails and began spinning them both in a circle. "Then I shall defeat you!"

"We shall see! You forget that The Eye of The Wicked Lord is the strongest!"

The room hummed with energy as the two began chanting.

"Reality, rejected! Synapses, shattered. Banishment. From. This. World!"

There was an explosion of power that tore apart the very fabric of space and time. From those torn fragments, the world they saw before them transformed. The dark room was blown away to reveal an ancient stone castle. It stood in the moonlight, dwarfing the forested mountains that surrounded it. Two towers rose up and pierced the heavens. Atop each of them stood Rikka Takanashi and Sanae Dekomori, both of them holding gigantic weapons in their arms.

"The stage is set, Dekomori," Rikka said, her voice audible even in the gale force winds buffeting them. "Show me your power!"

Sanae smiled and made a massive leap towards Rikka. "Very well, master. I shall not. Hold. Back!"

With every syllable, Sanae swung her giant hammer, and every time, it was blocked. Shock waves rippled through the air when Sanae and Rikka's weapons collided. Yet Rikka would not budge.

Sensing the futility of her frenzied swings, Sanae jumped away, letting herself free fall back onto the castle roof far below. She landed hard, the entire castle trembling under her feet. Rikka stepped forward and dropped down to the same level as Sanae. Rikka's landing left barely a crack on the tiles.

Rikka was barely even a millisecond on the ground and already Sanae was upon her.

"Megaton Smash!" Sanae cried, raising the hammer high above her head and bringing it down with a massive swing.

Rikka merely sidestepped the attack and pushed her weapon forward, knocking Sanae back a fair distance.

Sanae landed on her feet, frowning deeply. She was not upset because she was not winning, though. Her reason for being upset had to do with Rikka Takanashi still fighting with her eye patch on.

"Master, please explain. I do not understand why you choose not to fight at full strength. Do you think so lowly of me that I do not deserve such a privilege?"

Rikka shook her head. "Do not misunderstand, Dekomori. I am still more powerful than you, even at my weakest. This is all part of the test. _Make_ me use all my power. I am sure you can do that much."

Sanae pouted, still not convinced.

"Very well! If you insist on holding back, then I will attack with my most powerful technique!"

She rooted both feet on the ground, leaning slightly forward and bending both knees. She raised her hammer, the weapon glowing in her arms.

"With all the strength in my body, I shall use The Mjolnir Hammer to overwhelm you with one shot!"

Soon the hammer was radiating an intense light. It was just as intense as the look of determination in Sanae Dekomori's face. The very air around her crackled and sparked from the power emanating from her.

"Master!"

Sanae charged.

"Schwartz Shield!" Rikka called, summoning a giant round shield to block the incoming attack.

"Meteor Strike!" Sanae yelled, swinging her hammer with all her might.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Voices could be heard from the end of the hall. They were the muffled battle cries of two delusional teenagers in an imaginary fight to the death. It was so noticable that even the two brunettes at the end of the hall could hear them. One of them, a girl with long wavy hair, couldn't help but bow her head and massage her temples from the sheer embarrassment she felt at that moment.

"Togashi," Shinka Nibutani began. "Tell me, how you do it? Doesn't it get tiring?"

Beside her, Yuuta Togashi stood, a boy with short brown hair, smiling awkwardly. "I don't know," he answered. "It _does_ get tiring but somehow I'm managing." He continued listening to the fantastic non-sense Sanae and Rikka were spouting inside the club room. He too was dying inside due to second-hand embarrassment.

There was a pause before Yuuta spoke again. "Should we stop them or should we wait for them to finish?"

Shinka scowled. "It's my turn to put a stop to this," she realized. "Maybe I should just go home..."

"Your bag's still in there," Yuuta reminded. "You're not throwing me under the bus, Nibutani. Not today."

Shinka glared at him. "Fine," she said in defeat. She moved to open the door. "I swear if that little idiot gives me trouble with this, it'll be on _your_ head, Togashi."

"Good luck," Yuuta said, smiling reassuringly.

At the very moment the door was slid open, a bag of sand impacted Shinka's face. It was one of the bags Sanae tied to her twin tails. Shinka Nibutani limply collapsed backward onto the floor.

"Ah, Nibutani!" Yuuta quickly ran to her side. "She's unconscious," he noted. He then turned to face the two inside the club room.

Sanae was staring with her mouth agape, still holding her twin tails as if she were in mid swing. One of the sand bags tied to said twin tails were no longer attached. Rikka stood, similarly shocked. She was holding her automatic umbrella, opened and hanging by the strap on her wrist.

"Haha," Sanae laughed awkwardly. "I-I, Sanae Dekomori have b-bested the Fake Mori Summer without even trying!" Her voice was trembling and her face betrayed her feelings of guilt. It was obvious she merely putting up a front.

Rikka didn't do that though. She immediately panicked. "Yu-Yuuta, what do we do!"

"Alright, calm down. We need to get her to the nurse." He slung on of Shinka's arms over his shoulder. "C'mon, Rikka. Help me carry her to the nurse's office."

"Ah, right!" Rikka quickly complied, slinging the other arm over her own shoulder.

The two then made their way to the nurse's office, leaving Sanae standing in the room alone, smiling ironically. "I need to apologize," Sanae muttered guiltily to herself.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka opened her eyes the find herself in the school infirmary. next to her bed was Yuuta, reading something on his phone, and Rikka, staring intently at Shinka. The now-conscious girl sighed.

"Togashi," Shinka began. "Remember what I said right as I got knocked out?"

"I still don't see why it would be _my_ fault. You were the one who wanted to interchange who breaks up fights in the club room."

"It'd be your fault because you could have been a gentleman and offered to take my place. But you didn't. That is a sin, Togashi," Shinka said, sitting up. "Merely standing there and watching when someone is in need? The karmic energy of the universe will right this unbalance! I will receive my compensation from you, Togashi! Even if I have to curse you myself!"

"Nibutani, you're relapsing," Yuuta said.

Shinka blinked before quickly lying back down and covering her face with her hands. "No! I'm over that stuff! I'm normal! No! No no no! Nononono! NO!"

"Are you okay," she heard Rikka ask. Shinkat stopped talking and removed her hands from her face. Both Rikka and Yuuta were looking at her worriedly. "Are you okay?" Rikka repeated.

Shinka's expression softened. "I'm fine. Just a little out of it, I guess. It's just... hard to think... Everything seems... hazy..."

"Don't push yourself," Yuuta said. "I'll go get the nurse." He turned to Rikka. "Look after her."

Rikka gave a salute. "Roger that. My Eye is one that will always be watching."

"Make sure you watch with your other eye as well. Anyway, I'll be back."

With that Yuuta Togashi left the room.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Sanae Dekomori entered the room, her hair no longer in twin tails but let down. However, what was most notable about her was not the change in hair style but the face that she looked incredibly pale. Shinka became worried about it immediately. "Are you okay?"

"Dekomori, you look drained of power," Rikka said with equal concern. "What happened?"

She kept her head low and didn't answer. Instead, she said "Sorry." Her voice was small. So unlike her normal voice. "I didn't mean to do that, Nibutani..."

Shinka blinked. The blonde had called her by her real name instead of _Fake Mori Summer_. "I..." She pursed her lips. How was she supposed to react? She sighed. "Don't worry about it, Dekomori. I'm fine now."

Sanae nodded and slowly walked out the room, still not looking convinced.

Shinka scowled. "This can't be good," she muttered.

"I agree, Mori Summer. My servant acting this way is unlike her," Rikka said crossing her arms. "This is troublesome..."

"It's troublesome, alright," Shinka agreed. "I don't like that she's acting all mopey like that." She then flicked Rikka's forehead, causing Rikka to recoil. "And don't call me Mori Summer," Shinka said.

"R-right. Sorry, Nibutani."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"Okay, I got your bags," Yuuta said. "Rikka, make sure keep a good eye on Nibutani while we walk. Stay close to her."

"I swear I'm fine, guys. I'm sure can get home by myself," Shinka insisted.

"And _I'm_ sure that the nurse said you're not allowed to," Yuuta countered. "The nurse couldn't get a hold of your parents so we're escorting you instead."

"Don't worry, Nibutani," Rikka said enthusiastically. "With The Dark Flame Master and The Eye of the Wicked Lord accompanying you to your spiritual sanctuary, you will surely be safe. No one will be able to touch you."

Shinka looked at Rikka with tired annoyance. "Firstly, my spiritual sanctuary is a place of purity and love and I don't want your darkness corrupting it. Secondly, it's not a spiritual sanctuary, it's a house. Thirdly, the two of your are still only in high school. What could _you_ do if someone attacked me?"

Yuuta sighed. "Look, Nibutani. The nurse was worried you might have a concussion. We're just here to make sure nothing happens and to make sure you're okay if something does. If you don't want us entering your house, then we'll just bring you there and leave. We won't stay and be a bother."

Shinka sighed as well. "Okay, fine. Let's just go."

With that, Yuuta shouldered all three of their bags they began walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was a chapter.
> 
> At 2 AM earlier this week, I was rewatching Chu2 (the dub) and I have no self control. At all.  
> What can I say? I was struck and decided to write something. I don't have anything in mind with this story yet. Just a scene later in the story that I need to see written.
> 
> Anyway, the first part of this story was one of the funnest things I've ever written. What really made me like it so much was the Chuunibyou talk. I am one of them.  
> Also the fight scene. Seriously, that was so fun to write. People with super powers is so fun to write. Hopefully it matched the action scenes seen in the show.
> 
> Writing for Rikka is a bit difficult. She has two personalities and her cutesy irl personality mingles heavily with her more dominant chuunibyou personality. Then there's my problem of not really being able to get inside her head. I don't get her thought process. It's gonna take some effort to write her the way I want to.
> 
> Yuuta and Sanae are similar in that the way I think I should write them is that they default to one of their personalities. The normal personality with Yuuta, and the chuunibyou personality with Sanae. I've noted at the two can change between those personalities at will.
> 
> Shinka is a lot like Rikka in that Shinka Nibutani and Mori Summer are distinct personalities that happen to bleed into each other. In this case, the normal personality is the more dominant one but the small scenes we've seen tell me that she hasn't completely buried Mori Summer. She still hates the name
> 
> Speaking of which, I'm at odds with myself. I want to use everyone's first name when addressing them in descriptions but using "Sanae" to adress Dekomori just doesn't sit well with me somehow. Same with Nibutani. So annoying.  
> Whatever.  
> (Edit: Yeah, I'm gonna be using the first names now. That said, I changed this chapter accordingly.)
> 
> I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this story but I have my ideas. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a big project. Until my next chapter, then. See ya.


	2. Feeling Dazed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided to use their first names when I address them in the prose. Starting this chapter, Dekomori will be called Sanae and Nibutani will be called Shinka. That goes the same for all other characters.
> 
> Chapter 2, guys. Enjoy if you can.

 

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta Togashi's shoulders were aching by the time the three of them arrived at Shinka's house. He had been carrying Shinka and Rikka's bags along with his own for the entire commute there.

Shinka lived a surprising distance from the school. Yuuta supposed it wasn't _that_ surprising though. It was far enough from her old school that she could leave behind her middle school persona. She was thinking the same thing as Yuuta when she picked their school. Still, her house was more stations away than even his own.

"So, here we are," Yuuta said, laying down their bags on the kitchen table and sitting down. He then turned to Shinka, who was sitting across the table from him. "How do you feel?"

"Terrible," she said almost immediately.

"See? Aren't you glad that we came with you?"

She sighed and lowered her head onto the table. "Shut up," she muttered.

"So, what time will your parents arrive? If they'll be late then Rikka and I will stay and cook dinner for you."

"What about your sister...?"

Yuuta thought for a bit. _Kuzuha can cook. And we also have leftovers in the fridge. That isn't really a problem,_ he concluded. "What about her? She can take care of yourself. You, on the other hand, seem a little too dazed for me to really be sure." He crossed his arms. "When will your parents be home?"

There was a pause before Shinka answered. "My mother arrives home at around 10 pm. My father works a graveyard shift and is only home during mornings and early afternoons." Her voice was uncomfortably monotone. Yuuta took it as a warning to stay away from the topic of her parents.

"Well, in that case, we'll be staying for dinner," Yuuta decided, standing up from his seat.

"You should get changed, Nibutani." He said, patting the brunette on the shoulder, before turning to Rikka. "Rikka, I trust that you will assist her on her journey to her chambers?"

"I shall, Dark Flame Master," Rikka replied with a salute. "Come, Mori Summer. Let us go."

Shinka begrudgingly got out of the seat, stealing one last look at Yuuta. "You will regret this, Yuuta Togashi. For every utterance of the name _Mori Summer_ , another nail will be driven into your coffin."

Yuuta sighed as Shinka was lead to her room. "I still don't see how _that_ is _my_ fault," he muttered, putting on an apron. He then opened her refrigerator. "Now what does she have that I can cook...?"

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Rikka felt lost as she walked with Shinka to her room. She felt lost but not in a sense that she needed directions to get somewhere. She was more than capable of finding her own way in an ordinary residence like Shinka's. She was lost in that she was not quite sure what to do. What happened to Shinka had never happened before. Never in a thousand years did Rikka expect someone to get seriously hurt by their play fights. It was just for fun. It was never supposed to actually hurt anyone...

"You've been awfully quiet," Shinka noted as they both entered her room.

Rikka nodded. "I suppose it is a result of my power and Dekomori's colliding with yours. The resonance of dark and light energies must have affected me as it has affected you..."

There was a pause as Shinka sat on her bed and swayed for a few seconds. "Translation, please," she finally said, scowling. "What, do you feel guilty or something?"

Rikka nodded once more. "Yeah... I'm sorry..."

Shinka slowly let herself lie down on her bed. "You don't need to apologize. I know you didn't mean to do what you did. Besides, it wasn't _you_ who hit me." She closed her eyes. "Just be a little more careful."

Rikka nodded for the third time in as many minutes. "Okay..."

Rikka watched as Shinka undid her buttons and ribbons, seeming to struggle with such a simple task. "Do you require assistance?"

"No, I can do this alright..." A few more minutes passed as Shinka continued fiddling with her cardigan. "Actually, I think I might need your help," she said, giving up. "This is surprisingly difficult..."

Rikka sat on the bed and helped Shinka take off her clothes.

"Thanks," Shinka muttered. "Everything seems so... hazy. I really feel sleepy, too... It's hard to do stuff for some reason."

"It must be due to the damage you've sustained. Food and rest is required for your healing," Rikka said. "Please raise your arms."

Shinka raised her arms and Rikka pulled both her cardigan and her undershirt off. The same procedure followed with Shinka's skirt. Rikka blushed upon seeing Shinka half naked. _She has a nice figure. I'm kinda jealous._ Then a thought occurred to her. _What would Yuuta do if he was here instead of me?_ She quickly swatted away the thought like she would a fly.

Shinka noticed Rikka's pause. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," she said quickly. "Where do I put these?"

"Across the hall, in the bathroom," Shinka answered tiredly. "There are baskets next to the washing machine. Put the cardigan and skirt in the blue basket. Put the shirt in the green one."

Rikka nodded. "I shall return." Right as she opened the door, she turned back. "Um... Do not move," she ordered awkwardly.

"Noted," Shinka muttered, settling under her blanket. "I didn't plan to..."

Rikka nodded again and left the room.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta was at the stove, letting the eggs sizzle in the pan. He wasn't sure what Shinka's tastes were so he was preparing a simple meat and vegetable omelet. It was actually the second one he had made. The first one was for Nibutani. The one he was currently making was for Rikka. It didn't have any tomatoes.

He heard someone walk into the kitchen. "Rikka, is that you?" He heard a sound in affirmation from the purple haired girl. "Ah, how's Nibutani?"

"No change... er, well she's changed, but her state has not... changed... Um..."

Yuuta chuckled. "I get it, Rikka. She's out of her school clothes but she still feels dizzy, right?" Rikka confirmed what he said. "Okay then. Take that plate to her room and make sure she eats it. I can tell she's really sleepy but she needs some food before she goes to bed."

"Understood, Yuuta. May this meal bring her enough nutrition to sufficiently heal herself."

"Here's hoping," Yuuta said in agreement. "Wait for me there. I won't be long. I just need to finish cooking this."

A few minutes after Rikka brought away the food, Yuuta finished cooking his and Rikka's meal. He put the dishes on a tray and made his way to Shinka's room.

He knocked on the door. "Hey, it's me."

"The Dark Flame Master wishes to gain entrance," Rikka said from inside.

"Don't start that again, Takanashi. Please," Shinka pleaded. "You can come in, Togashi."

Yuuta turned the door knob and entered her room, noting how surprisingly organized it was. Large book shelves covered most of the orange walls. Red curtains were drawn, obscuring the view through the window. Shinka and Rikka sat on the floor, next to a small coffee table.

"How's the omelet?" Yuuta asked, setting down the tray so that he and Rikka could eat.

"It's okay," Shinka said. "Nothing spectacular but it tastes nice." A small smile found its way on her face as she chewed. "If there's one good thing about it, it's that it tastes like home."

Yuuta smiled as well. "That was the plan. It's the same kind of thing I cook for Rikka." He turned to said girl. "Speaking of which, how do you like yours?"

"It's great, Yuuta," Rikka answered happily.

"You're only saying that because it doesn't have tomatoes," Yuuta said teasingly. Rikka stiffened for a few seconds before saying yes. "Don't expect me to indulge you everyday. Tomatoes have a lot of nutrients. You'll need them if you ever want to get taller."

Rikka continued eating glumly. "Yes, Yuuta..."

"You know, Togashi, I need to say this again: You and Rikka don't act like a couple at all," Shinka said a hint of frustration in her voice. "You're more like a father and daughter than anything else."

Yuuta frowned, glancing at Rikka. _Am I really? I'm only doing what I think is right for her. It's not like its a bad thing, right?_ He shook his head. _Whatever. Now's not the time to think of that..._

And so, their meal resumed in silence.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"So, we'll be going now, Nibutani. Get some rest, okay?"

Shinka watched drowsily as Yuuta and Rikka exited her room. She listened closely and she heard the faint closing of her front door soon after. _Hopefully they locked it when they left,_ she thought. _I trust Togashi would remember that._

She then rolled over and yawned into her pillow. _I suppose it's time to sleep now. I have a big day tomorrow. I'll probably need to go see a doctor with father..._

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"Ah, Hero and the Eye of the Wicked Lord. I've been wondering when you'd return from your journey."

Yuuta and Rikka arrived home and were surprised to find Satone Shichimiya sitting at their dinner table. Satone grinned at them in greeting.

"Evening, Shichimiya," Yuuta greeted, removing his cardigan and draping it over a seat. "What brings you here?"

Satone laughed. "My reasons defy all logic and reason!"

"Bored, I see." Yuuta turned to Rikka. "I'm not in the mood for this. If you wanna talk to her, go ahead. I'll be in my room for a bit."

"Understood, Yuuta."

With that, Yuuta left the two alone.

The was a short awkward silence. "So," Satone said. "What happened today? You both seem really tired."

Rikka took a seat and sighed. "My servant, Dekomori, and I were sparring." She looked down. "There was collateral damage..."

Satone leaned forward. "Was it Hero?"

"No. It was Nibutani."

Satone nodded solemnly. "Hmm. If that's the case, I'd think you would seem less sad. If I remember correctly, Mori Summer engages the Mjolnir Hammer on a day to day basis. I take it the damage was more severe than usual?"

"We hit her on the head and knocked her out."

The was a pause. "Well," Satone muttered. "That's a bit better than what I was expecting but..."

Rikka shook her head. "I don't know what to do. I feel really guilty but when I try to say sorry, she says not to apologize."

Satone giggled. "Rikka, you don't need to feel guilty. Remember this is Mori Summer we're talking about here. If she anything like the Mori Summer I remember, she's already forgiven you. If she hasn't yet, then she'd be casting curses on you like there's no tomorrow."

Rikka smiled sadly. "I guess you're right..."

Satone grinned. "I _know_ I'm right."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta changed into more casual clothes and lied down on his bed. It had been a long day, with the longest part being that final stretch. Shinka getting knocked out was perhaps one of the most stressful experiences he had ever experienced. Trying to deal with Rikka's grief about her father was, without doubt, _the_ most stressful, but what happened today was certainly up there.

Ah, I hope Dekomori's okay, Yuuta thought. She was the one who hurt Nibutani so I can only imagine how guilty she feels. I guess we'll just see tomorrow at school.

He closed his eyes and attempted to get to sleep.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was the second chapter? Just a little bit shorter than the first chapter. It's also significantly more depressing. Jeez, what have I done? Don't worry, it won't always be like this. It'll get better eventually.


	3. Methods of Coping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a long five months. Finally getting this chapter out.
> 
> Here you guys go: Chapter 3. Enjoy if you can - if you can't, I apologize

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka lied down on her bed that afternoon still feeling a mild headache. The dull throb was the only thing she was aware of as she mused on her situation. Everything else was tuned out.

 _A concussion,_ she thought irritably. _Of course I got a concussion._

Her trip to the doctor earlier that afternoon confirmed what she had been dreading. The violent smack to her forehead yesterday had caused a concussion, though thankfully not a very serious one. She was told to stay in bed for a day or two and not do anything that required too much focus. That meant no walking, standing, sitting, eating, or any movement whatsoever without someone there to aide her. She was, for all intents and purposes, a vegetable.

That may have been an exaggeration. Shinka was very much free to sit up and eat on her own but her father was always there, watching in case her symptoms got worse. They didn't, of course - slowly but surely she was getting better. But that was beside the point. Until she was completely fine, she was pretty much locked in her room.

"Shinka, how are you doing?"

Her father's voice broke her daze with a concerned question. Every hour he would ask that and Shinka would always answer the same thing. "I'm doing better."

The man stared with worried eyes but said nothing. And neither did Shinka after that. She kept silent for most of the day, speaking only when spoken to. That would continue for the rest of her confinement to the bed.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta and Rikka sat in the club room, feeling a certain amount of sadness. It was quiet. It didn't feel right. And all of it was due to the absence of Shinka and Sanae.

"I don't like this," Rikka muttered glumly. "I miss them already..." Yuuta could only nod in agreement.

Shinka had gone to see a doctor so it made sense for her to be absent. Sanae, on the other hand, must have been really guilty to just skip class the way she did. Yuuta could only imagine how upset she was over what happened the previous day. He winced at the very thought of it.

The door slid open. "Heyo! How's it hanging... every... one...?" It was Makoto Ishiki, whose initial enthusiasm slowly died down upon seeing the nearly empty room. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Um... what happened here? It's like someone died."

"Death!" Rikka suddenly yelled. "We must go to the fortress and speak with the Mjolnir Hammer." She began packing her stuff.

Makoto stared in confusion, blinking once. He then turned to Yuuta. "Um, translation please?"

Yuuta sighed and shouldered his bag "Just get out of here, Ishiki. We're leaving for Dekomori's house."

"What? But I just got here."

"And we're just leaving." Yuuta handed him the keys to the room. "Lock up and return that key to Miss Tsukumo."

"Wait, what?"

"Good bye, Ishiki," Yuuta said with finality as he left with Rikka, closing the door behind him. With that, Makoto was left alone in the room holding the keys.

"What the hell just happened?"

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"Miss Sanae, I beg of you, please come out. You haven't even had lunch yet."

"Go away!"

Sanae had spent the better part of the last 24 hours locked in her room, quietly thinking about what she had done. The previous night she had only come out because her parents were home and wanted the family to dine together. During dinner, she did not speak unless spoken to and barely touched her food. Her parents didn't seem to notice anything. When she finished, she headed straight for her room and locked it - even barricading it - to prevent anyone from entering. Then she lied down on her bed in an attempt to achieve sleep that only came when the date had already shifted from one day to the next. When she woke up, there was small banging on her door - the maids were asking her to come out. She ignored them. That repeated for much of the rest of that day.

Sanae sat on her bed in a fetal position, hugging her legs. She felt a small ache in her stomach as it grumbled. She was fasting, she thought to herself. She was starving herself in the hope that she may be cleansed of the guilt she was feeling. It wasn't working, but she continued to try. She hugged tighter.

There was another knock. "I said go away!" Sanae repeated.

A different voice came muffled through her door. "Dekomori, I command you to open this door."

Sanae went wide eyed. That was her master, Rika. But why? Why was she here? "Master?" Sanae said, voice cracking.

"Yes, that was Rikka. I'm here too by the way." It was Yuuta. Sanae wasn't surprised he was with her. It was only natural. They were lovers, after all. "Dekomori, I know you feel guilty, but locking yourself up in your room isn't going to help. Let us in and we can talk things through."

Sanae scowled angrily. Talk? Nonsense. That wouldn't help either. One can't simply be talked out of feeling guilty.

"Dekomori, please, just open the door." Yuuta sounded tired. "If anything, do it for Rikka. She needs this as much as you do, even if you won't admit that you need it too."

Sanae stared at the door, quietly wondering why on earth would her master need to talk to her. What exactly is the problem? It can't be her own - she was already dealing with that. So what, then? She just didn't understand.

"Please, Dekomori," Rikka said, barely audible.

It occurred to Sanae that Rikka was likely to feel the same amount of guilt as well. She may not have dealt the blow that felled Shinka, but she was definitely part of it. _It isn't her fault, though. Why is she upset?_ Sanae thought angrily.

 _Fine then. My master needs me. Don't let it be said that I wallow so deep in self-pity that I don't help my friends._ She jumped out of bed, wincing as another wave of pain erupted from her stomach. With great struggle, she pushed the chair away from the door and unlocked it.

"Dekomori," Yuuta said upon seeing her. He immediately grew worried. "Are you alright?"

"No, I am very unwell," Sanae growled, stepping to the side to let the two in. "But think nothing of it. How can I help?"

The three sat at the small table near Sanae's bed. Rikka and Yuuta sat beside each other, with the boy looking quite uncomfortable, while the girl looking very upset. Sanae sat opposite to them, doing her best to ignore the writhing pain in her stomach. A tense silence filled the air, weighing heavily on them as they waited for someone to speak up. Sanae was growing impatient.

"So," Sanae said, causing her two guests to jump in their seats. "Why are you here?"

Rikka winced at the question but Yuuta merely looked away. Sanae could already tell that coming here was probably Rikka's idea. "I... I wanted to..." Rikka trailed off without really answering anything.

"Wanted to what?" Sanae prompted.

There was another pause. "I wanted to see how you were doing," Rikka finally answered. "I guess... I guess I wanted to know if you felt as bad as I did..."

Sanae frowned. "Master, with all due respect, why are you guilty about this?" There was no reply. "I'm sure Fake-Morisummer has already told you not to worry. I will be repeating her words. The fault is mine and mine alone." Rikka's head lowered her head.

"Deko..." Sanae turned to Yuuta, whose face was stern. "If you're trying to make her feel better, you're not doing a good job of it."

Sanae frowned and looked away. "Sorry..."

Yuuta sighed. "She came to see how well you were coping. Obviously you weren't coping very well." He scowled. "And I just remembered something one of your maids said. What were you thinking? Locking yourself up in your room is one thing but skipping meals entirely?"

"I am merely fasting," Sanae replied with annoyance. "It is to prepare myself. When Fake-Morisummer is well again, I will atone for my sins in whatever way she sees fit."

Sanae suddenly felt a sharp pain on her forehead and recoiled. Yuuta had given her a quick chop to the head. "Deko, stop rationalizing it. You're a growing girl. You need to eat." Sanae glared at him. "Okay, fine. Think of it like this, then: whatever atonement you think you're gonna be getting, wouldn't you think eating would help you in achieving it? You need to have enough nutrients when preparing for battle, right?"

Sanae continued glaring but she couldn't deny that Yuuta's words were getting to her. Thinking back, she didn't really know why she was starving herself. She just suddenly had the idea that fasting would help so she did it. In a way, though, it _did_ help. Something about the pain in her stomach made her guilt feel less powerful - like waves weathering down a cliff side. Or maybe she was just lightheaded? She couldn't tell anymore. Either way, she was being stupid.

Sanae lowered her head. "I guess I could eat," she muttered to herself.

Yuuta and Rikka both jumped at the door suddenly opening. After which, a maid entered with a bowl of rice, meat, and vegetables. Sanae wasn't surprised. They were probably listening through the door, waiting for her to give in and eat. Not that she minded. She could tell they were really worried about her.

"Thank you," she told them and quietly began eating. Every bite seemed to upset her more and more, though. "I still don't know how I'll atone for this," she muttered, staring at her rice with a twinge of frustration. "Nothing I do seems to be working."

Yuuta rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. You've tried once." He put his hand on Sanae's shoulder and looked at her, face both serious and caring at the same time. "Look, I can tell this is really eating at you. In some way, this is eating at me too. But we can't let guilt take control of our lives, even if it's guilt about people we care about. More than likely, that's not what they'd want for us." He smiled awkwardly, looking away. "I guess that was a little hammy, huh?"

Rikka gingerly took his arm and shook her head. "It was actually quite profound. As to be expected of the wise and powerful Dark Flame Master," she said softly.

Sanae wasn't convinced couldn't help but smile. He was trying his best and it seemed to at least be working on one of them. The fact alone that he made her master feel better already warmed her heart. But his words reminded her of something very important to her - something that majority of her daily life had been based off of. What Yuuta has said was a verse in the Mabinogion, albeit paraphrased.

Love had always been what Morisummer preached. One would normally think forgiveness goes hand-in-hand with that. The irony of Sanae failed to see that was not lost on her. _And I call myself one of her most devout followers,_ she thought wryly. With a small shake of her head she continued eating.

 _It was probably a good thing they came,_ she decided. _Master needed this... And, apparently, so did I._

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter was sitting in my documents folder literally half finished for five months. It's been so long that I've basically forgot how to write these characters in between chapters and had to rewatch the show again to remember.
> 
> In any case, that was chapter 3! Did you like it? Personally, I really like how it turned out. It felt a little too short but I had no more content to put into it that wouldn't fit better with the next chapter I have planned (which will be out soon. No promises on release date, though)
> 
> Until next chapter, then.


	4. Compensation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the new chapter. In the last one we had a day wherein people were still coming to terms with whatever happened the day prior. In this one, two days have passed and Shinka is returning to school. Consider this to be where the real story begins.
> 
> Enjoy if you can. If you can't, I apologize.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka's room was lit with dim orange diffuse from the light filtering through her curtains. It was early enough in the morning that the sun wasn't up yet but late enough that it wasn't pitch black anymore. Shinka had woken up significantly earlier than she needed to be, all due to the fact that all she had been doing for the past two days was sleeping.

On her bed was her uniform, neatly folded and ready to be put on. She hadn't worn them since the accident. She glanced at the clothes and sighed. "I better get ready," she muttered.

She changed in silence, contemplating the past two days she spent in bed. She thought of the amount of time she wasted sitting around just because she failed to dodge a sand bag - one she had been hit with countless of times. Why did that hit in particular be the one to cause her this much trouble? She didn't understand. It was just so frustrating.

She sighed again. "Nothing to get so worked up over," she muttered to herself. "Just... just forget it."

Upon buttoning her cardigan, she picked up her bag and exited her room. She reached the front door, put on her shoes, and made way for school without another word.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Upon entering her classroom, Shinka went and sat at her desk, readying her notebooks and putting away her bag. Her seatmates scooted their chairs nearer and began conversation with her. The usual questioning followed soon after - "how do you feel?", "are you caught up on homework?" and all those kinds of questions. Nothing too extravagant. The return of Shinka Nibutani was quiet and understated which was exactly the way she wanted.

However, her peace of mind lasted roughly three minutes as a new arrival suddenly called out to her.

"Nibutani!"

Shinka flinched and turned around. One Rikka Takanashi had just entered from the back door. Her single eye was staring intently, mouth quivering in what looked to be the beginnings of a smile. She dropped her bag, and ran for Shinka, embracing her tightly. It was more of a tackle, really.

"Ack!" Shinka yelped upon impact. She smiled wryly. "Settle down, Takanashi. That hurt." She squirmed out of the hug and held Rikka by the shoulders.

Rikka swatted Shinka's hands away and once again hugged her, though not quite as tightly. "Your presence was greatly missed," she said, face buried into Shinka's shoulder. "It's good to have you back."

Shinka stared at the girl embracing her, noting how earnest she was about her return. It was so endearing. She couldn't help but smile. "And it's good to be back," she muttered, returning the hug.

From the corner of her eye, Shinka noticed Yuuta standing close by. When their eyes met, he mouthed a question. _"Are you okay?"_ he asked. Shinka paused and thought before replying with a slight frown and a single unsure nod. Yuuta nodded back and gave a small salute. He returned his seat shortly after.

Rikka eventually let go and made her way to her desk. Shinka noticed that her bag that she dropped was already on the table. Yuuta must have picked it up and put it there. Shinka turned her attention back to Yuuta who was readying his books. She smiled proudly before returning to her own books.

Class started a few minutes later.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka stood in front of the club room, hand hovering over the door handle.

 _I wonder if Dekomori is in there. What is she doing...?_ She thought. Then she scowled. _I don't wanna go in. I'm not mad at her anymore for what she did but I don't want to go in there and accept whatever kind of apology she wants to give me. But I don't want to hurt her by not accepting..._ She bit her lip. _Me opening that door... nothing good will come out of it..._

"Hey."

A voice from the end of the hall jolted Shinka from her daze. _Speak of the devil,_ she thought, turning to face the sound of approaching footsteps. "H-hey, Dekomori," she greeted stiffly. She then glanced at the door. "I thought you were already in there," she muttered.

Sanae shifted her weight awkwardly and searched her pockets. A few seconds later, she held up a key. "The room's still locked," she explained.

Upon hearing that Shinka tried opening the door. There was small click as the door resisted her push. She reddened in response. _I was hesitating in front of a locked door this entire time..._

She gingerly removed her hand from the door handle. "Right," she said, stepping to the side to let Sanae open the door.

There was a somber emptiness in the air around them as they sat the table. Even the soft opening of their lunch boxes seemed to echo. With only the two of them, it was uncomfortably silent.

"Where is master and her lover?" Sanae asked. She barely looked up from her meal as she asked that.

Shinka bit her lip. _They left the classroom before I did so I assumed they went here. I don't really know where else they'd be..._

"They're eating somewhere else. They didn't tell me where..."

"Oh," Sanae said, nodded. "Okay."

They continued eating in silence.

Shinka chewed thoughtfully. _What the hell's going on we the two of us today?_ she wondered. _Are we seriously just going to skirt around the entire issue? We're both here now. We should at least address the elephant in the room._ She closed her eyes. _I say that, and yet I was reviewing the option to run away mere minutes ago. I guess both us have the doubts about how this will turn out..._ She stared at the single piece of rice sticking to her chopsticks, silently cursing their inability to just talk about the matter.

"I'm sorry about what happened three days ago..." Sanae finally said, breaking the silence.

Shinka felt a brief feeling of relief when the younger girl decided that she'd be the one to initiate. That feeling quickly turned into an awkward tension as she hesitated to answer. "It's... Yeah, I know..." She looked away, unsure of what else to say.

From the edges of her vision, she could see Sanae lower her head. "Are you still mad...?" Sanae asked, sounding uncharacteristically timid.

Shinka scowled. That was the crux of the matter, really. _Was_ she still mad? She at least knew she hadn't let go yet. The pain in her head and the forced confinement was something she couldn't forget so easily. In time, maybe. But not now. And yet, as bitter as she felt about her entire situation, the thought of staying mad at Sanae just didn't sit right with Shinka. So what should she say...?

"Maybe," she answered.

That was the only thing she could think of. None of what she felt made any sense. She couldn't quite put into words what her feelings on the matter were - not in a way that satisfied her, anyway. And if it didn't satisfy her, then surely it wouldn't satisfy Sanae either... right?

She looked back to Sanae, wondering what the chuuni thought of her answer. Said chuuni looked deep in thought, nodding slowly. A slow trickle of guilt welled up inside Shinka as she watched. _This is a no-win situation,_ she thought to herself. _Even if I lied, I'd still feel guilty. The reasons would just be different..._

Shinka was reluctantly returning to her meal when Sanae suddenly spoke. "What can I do?" she asked. Shinka looked back at her and found her staring seriously, eyes just at the edge of tearing up. "What can I do to make it up to you? I'll do whatever you want."

Her face, her eyes, her voice - everything about how she said those words suggested that Sanae was absolutely serious about it. She would do literally whatever Shinka wanted. Part of Shinka felt elated. The little devil who was opposing her at nearly every turn was no indebted to her. It was great! And yet, what did that entail? Sanae's fate was in her hands now. What was she going to do with it? What was she willing to do to her before she was satisfied? The implications were, quite frankly, terrifying.

"Mori Summer," Shinka suddenly said. An idea was forming. She just had to roll with it. "Stop calling me Mori Summer. That person's gone now. Me right now? I'm not her and have never tried to be her. So stop trying to bring her back through me." Realizing what she was saying, Shinka felt a surge of confidence. "I'm not her fake. I'm not her copy. I'm just me. And I think it's time you start seeing me as _me_."

Sanae stared at her, looking a little shaken. Shinka, on the other hand, felt great. It felt incredibly liberating, affirming herself to the very person who made her question her life nearly every single day for the past year. Shinka Nibutani _was_ Mori Summer. But Mori Summer _isn't_ Shinka Nibutani. They were the same person and yet distinct entities, separated by time. And as that separation grew larger and larger, less and less Mori Summer could be found in Shinka Nibutani. And the very thought was exhilarating.

"Okay," Sanae suddenly said, snapping Shinka out of her self congratulatory mental loop. "Okay, I'll do it."

Shinka frowned. Sanae looked like she wanted to cry, barely keeping a straight face. Why was she so upset? It was such as simple request. Just call her by her real name. What was so upsetting about that? It didn't make sense. And yet, there she was, holding back her tears trying to save face.

Shinka felt a pang of guilt. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing." Sanae started packing up, not even finished with her meal.

"What you're already done? Dekomori, what's going on, you're freaking me out."

She got up and left without another word

Shinka watched as the door slid behind her, unsure about what she should say. By then, it was already too late.

She turned back to her food, once again staring at a piece of rice still stuck on her chopstick. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her palms, shoulders slumped and elbows on the table. "I've lost my appetite," she muttered.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta and Rikka stood in front of the door to the club room. They had planned to let the two work things out on their own before entering. It was Yuuta's idea, actually. Rikka wanted to play as arbiter for them but Yuuta insisted otherwise. He was starting to regret that decision. Sanae had just passed them, not saying a word as she did so. If she noticed them, she didn't look like she cared. Shinka, on the other hand was still inside the club room, not even saying anything.

"I still don't understand why Dekomori is so upset," Yuuta muttered. "What was the big deal? Nibutani just wanted to be called her real name."

Rikka looked grim as she closed her eyes. "Names have power," she said cryptically. "I shall confront the Mjolnir Hammer," she announced. "Do not follow me."

Yuuta turned to Rikka only to find that she was already bounding across the hall in the direction of the stairs. "Don't run in the halls! You might get hurt!" She turned the corner and was no longer in view, leaving Yuuta with only the echo of his voice.

He turned towards the door frowning. "Hey, can I come in?" he asked.

"Yeah," came Shinka's reply shortly after.

Yuuta sighed and entered the room.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it?
> 
> Personally, I think it could use some work. I think the scenes at the start with Shinka in her room and the classroom were a little dull. I was trying to get a somber atmosphere going though I'm not quite sure if I nailed it. Either way, not entirely satisfied with it. The scene at the end didn't quite come out the way I expected it to either. It feels a bit stiff.
> 
> Regardless, those sections weren't really the point of this chapter. They were more of a means to bridge the rest of the story with one particular scene. Yes, it's that scene.
> 
> Shinka and Sanae's little encounter in this chapter is what this story's title is referring to, at least for now. Call it an unequal trade if you wish, but it's fairly believable that things would turn out like this given the context. In any case, from here on, this story will be exploring what Shinka's decision will entail for herself those around her. I have a couple of ideas and concepts that should prove to be interesting to tackle in the shoes of some delusional teenagers - especially Shinka.
> 
> Also, for anyone wondering, yes, this will be a DekoSummer fic. Be ready for some angst and drama in the near future.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully I finish the next chapter soon. Just sit tight until then.


	5. Confusion and Frustration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a relatively short chapter showing events taking place directly after that of last chapter. Prepare for some more chuunibyou-speak as one of the main focuses will be Sanae and Rikka.
> 
> Enjoy if you can - otherwise, I apologize.

 

**CHUUNIBYOU**

When Yuuta entered the room, Shinka was seated at the table, scowling at some distant point in the corner. She looked quite upset. More specifically, some combination of angry, sad, annoyed, guilty, and frustrated. Regardless of the details, she was in a bad mood and looked like she wanted to be alone. Though she wasn't pushing him away so he might as well try and cheer her up - or at the very least, talk to her. Yuuta sighed and took a seat across the table from Shinka.

"So, did that go the way you expected it to?" Shinka asked, glumly prodding her food.

Yuuta looked away, scratching his cheeks. "I don't know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't _that_ ," he muttered.

Shinka pushed her lunch box forward and buried her face in her arms. "Oh stars above, what did I even say to make her act like that?" she groaned. "She herself says I'm _not_ Mori Summer. What difference does it make to call me _Fake_ rather than my real name?" She raised her head and slammed her palms onto the table. "Will that always be what she sees me as!? Not as me? Just the knock-off of a person she used to know? Oh it frustrates me to no end!"

Yuuta nodded quietly. "Yeah. I know what you mean..."

"Oh do you?" Shinka crossed her arms and looked at him, unamused. "How, pre-tell, can you say that?"

Yuuta frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Nibutani, I know you're upset but don't go attacking me. I know what you've been going through is a lot worse than me but don't even _try_ to imply that I don't know what I'm saying."

Shinka stared dryly in response before her expression softened. "Alright. Sorry," she said, taking a deep breath. "It just frustrating, you know? She really gets under my skin sometimes - even when she's not around..."

" _That_ I definitely understand," he said, closing his eyes. "Rikka went to talk to her. I wonder how she's doing."

"Your girl's doing probably better than you," Shinka said. "If you were trying to make me feel better, you're doing a pretty terrible job." She pulled her lunch box back towards her and continued eating.

Yuuta gave her a small smile. "Maybe. Maybe not."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Rikka slammed open the door to the roof and was met with the awkward stares of several couples eating lunch together in the various corners of the concrete expanse.

 _Where is she?_ Rikka wondered. A short look around achieved no results. She bit her lip. _I could have sworn she'd be here..._ Ignoring the continued stares of the uncomfortable students occupying the roof, Rikka started walking towards the closest ledge. _Not in the art room or the science room or the roof. Where could you be, Mjolnir Hammer? How can you elude my all-seeing-eye so easily?_

She clung to the fence and scanned the area below. In the corner of her vision, she caught a head of blonde twin-tails sitting by a tree near the far side of the campus. Her grip on the fence tightened. _Target sighted,_ she thought.

She turned on her heel and hurried down the stairs, slamming the door shut as she ran through it. A small part of her wondered if she'd get reported for her aggressive use of school property. That part of her was barely acknowledged as a bigger part of her was focused on her kouhai. The worry overshadowed anything else she could be feeling at that point.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Sanae leaned against the tree, her knees up to her chest. The immediate vicinity was free of any unwanted ears or eyes. Yes, a number of loners were nearby, sulking in their own corners of the world, but they didn't bother her. Which was fine - she didn't want any attention, at least not right then.

The confusion she felt that moment was hard to pinpoint and analyze. Yes, she was aware that she was upset, but what had caused that? What about Shinka Nibutani's request - demand, rather - caused such a reaction from her. From a logical stand point, the demand it made sense. Sanae says all the time that Shinka was not Mori Summer - and she wasn't even trying to be - and yet Sanae insistently called her a fake. It was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for. And yet, Sanae's heart ached at the very notion...

Sanae hugged herself tightly, unsure of what to make of her emotions.

There was a slight rustling of leaves the broke Sanae's trance. She quickly stood up, grabbing hold of her twin-tails and twirling them. "Who goes there?" she asked tensely.

Rikka walked out of the bushes, swatting leaves out of her way. "It is I," she said, briefly raising her eye-patch, showing the golden glow of her right eye.

"Master?" Sanae stared in confusion for merely a second before she straightened her posture. With a slight bow, she asked, "How can I serve you?"

Rikka waved her hand dismissively. "At ease. I just wish to talk." She proceeded to sit down next to Sanae's original spot next to the tree.

 _Talk?_ Reluctantly, Sanae sat back down. "What is this about, Master?" she asked, the energy in her voice now gone.

Rikka closed her eyes and sighed, as if steeling herself for a heavy topic. Sanae watched with a frown and furrowed brow. She had a bad feeling about whatever topic Rikka had in mind. If it were what she was thinking of... No, she was all but certain...

"Dekomori. Do you believe that names have power?" Rikka asked.

"Ah right," Sanae said ruefully. " _Of course_ this is what you wished to talk about..."

"As both your friend and master, I was concerned for your well being. I'm sorry for eavesdropping."

Sanae nodded slowly. "It's okay, master," she muttered. "At least with you knowing, I have someone to confide with..."

"Names with power..." She leaned back, watching how the sunlight filtered through the leaves and branches. She reached out a hand, as if to grab the rays of warmth. "Shinka Nibutani... Mori Summer... they are both names that hold power over me. Power I don't understand. Power I cling to for dear life. Power I yearn to escape... What do I do...?" She wanted to curl up into a tight ball but resisted.

Rikka seemed to be growing ever more worried as Sanae rambled on. "Dekomori...? Sanae, what's wrong?"

Sanae closed her eyes, chuckling. Her arm dropped limply to her side as she took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, a sad, tired smile adorned her face. "Don't be alarmed, master. Just a moment of weakness. The power of names will never best me!" Her words were halfhearted at best...

Rikka stared at her seriously. She didn't look convinced. "Dekomori, do not lie to me. I can _see_ the pain in your heart."

"It is a pain I do not understand, master. What else is there to say?" Rikka turned away to those words. Sanae sighed. "Give me some time, master. Let me sort through this."

Rikka continued to look unconvinced but she nodded nonetheless. "If ' _sorting through this_ ' involves more fasting or other actions of that sort, there will be consequences."

"So there will..."

Rikka's serious expression softened. "Deko, you know I'm here for you, right?"

"Of course..." Dekomori shifted her weight to the side, leaning her head on Rikka's shoulders. "What is a servant without her master?"

Rikka closed her eyes. "What indeed?" she muttered.

They remained like that for the remainder of lunch break.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy that was a chapter. It's been a while now, hasn't it? What's weird is that the actual process of writing this chapter didn't take that long despite the huge gap between my last chapter and this one. I had many delays. Though I had no deadline, it was still kinda annoying that I wasn't able to release this as soon as I wanted to. Still, at least it's out, right?
> 
> I'm slowly but surely building on the relationships of all the characters in this story. Sure, so far I've been focusing on Yuuta-Shinka and Rikka-Sanae dynamics rather than the actual ship, but keep in mind that these kids are a closely knit group. Anything from one dynamic also has influence on another. Of course, there was also that little bit of characterization to Rikka while she was alone on the roof. That was pretty fun to write.
> 
> In any case, I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Until next time.


	6. Fate Sealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty fast update, if I do say so myself. It's still pretty short though - not that length really matters if it gets the point across.
> 
> What is compensation but another form of equivalent exchange? A pact? A contract? An agreement to give in exchange for what has been given, be it positive or negative? Like it or not, a deal is a deal, and once made, one's fate is sealed.
> 
> Enjoy if you can. And if you can't, I apologize.

 

**CHUUNIBYOU**

The afterschool club meeting that day was quiet. Sanae and Rikka sat at the table, having silently intense match of thumb wrestling. Shinka sat at the corner, reading a text book. Yuuta joined her in studying, keeping a short distance. There wasn't really anything happening so there really wasn't a reason to stay. Eventually, they all left.

Shinka was the first to leave. She packed her book in her bag and made an announcement. "I'm leaving," she said. And then she left.

Sanae was next. "I'm sorry, master. I cannot stay. I have some things to take care of." Of course, Rikka made no attempts to make her stay, so she left as well.

Left alone, once again, Yuuta and Rikka exchanged a look of understanding. They began packing up and left as well.

"They didn't go home yet," Rikka said as they waited for their train.

It took Yuuta a moment to reply. "Oh? How do you know?"

"None of them said so," Rikka answered. "They're still at school. They just wanted the two of us out of the way. In the twilight of dusk and the silence of empty halls, they shall meet and settle things."

Yuuta raised an eyebrow. "It's not that I don't believe you but those are pretty exact predictions. The school gate closes as six, you know? What, are they gonna trap themselves in?"

Rikka shrugged. Yuuta rolled his eyes at her response. "Whatever."

They continued waiting for their train.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka lied down alone in the club room. With the lights turned off, the only thing staying the darkness was the light of the moon, entering from the open window. A soft breeze entered with it, filling the room with the warmth of the nearing season of summer. She covered her eyes with her arms and sighed. Summer...

The door opened behind her, filling the room with a nigh blinding brightness. Shinka didn't even flinch.

"Why are you here?" Shinka asked pointedly, not bothering to sit up and look at her guest.

There was a stomp on the ground and the sound of sweeping arm gestures. Shinka had three guesses as to who her guess was and the first two didn't count. "Why are _you_ here?" asked the voice of none other than Sanae Dekomori. Shinka allowed herself the smallest bit of satisfaction for guessing right.

Shinka removed her arm and locked gazes with Sanae. There was a wordless exchange between them as they stared. An inexplicable understanding. A feeling more than anything. Shinka sat up and scooted to the table, gesturing for Sanae to sit opposite her. The younger girl did so.

There was silence for a time. "You first," Sanae said, ironically speaking first.

"I asked first," Shinka rebutted, "Why are you here?" she repeated.

Sanae bit her lip, obviously unhappy with the direction the conversation so quickly turned. She looked away. "I was looking for you. I wanted to apologize for earlier." She glanced back to Shinka. "You next."

"I was waiting for you," Shinka answered. She leaned forward, interlocking her hands in front of her face. "I had a feeling you'd come looking for me here first."

Sanae managed a small smile. "I had a feeling you'd be here when I looked," she muttered. "It seems that fate is bringing us together for this occasion."

"Or it's a lucky coincidence," Shinka shot back.

"Make of it as you will, Fake Mori-" Sanae cut herself off and glared at the corner of the room. "Fate or luck, make of it as you will. Either way, we are here." Her expression softened. "I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly earlier. I was... I was emotionally compromised. What you asked of me was challenging to accept..."

Shinka's face remained a stoic mask, though her gaze did shift downward to the bare table in front of them. "It's fine. I don't understand, but it's obvious that I hurt you somehow." She paused, a scowl adorning her face for an instant before she quickly suppressed it. "I still have to ask, though... Why...? Why'd it hurt you so much?"

Much to Shinka's surprise, Sanae laughed. It wasn't the kind of laugh one would make after a funny joke. " _Why_ , she asks. Tell me, _Shinka Nibutani_ , do you think I would've run away earlier if I knew the answer to that?"

Shinka felt chills down her spine - one when Sanae spoke her name, another when she realized the chuuni had a point. With how aggressive and confrontational the girl was, Sanae Dekomori would never back down like that. Three years of experience with the self proclaimed delusional wielder of the mythological god weapon made Shinka all but certain.

Sanae gave her a halfhearted smile. "Fear, Nibutani. Fear of the unknown. Of monsters, not from without, but from within. Do not ask me to explain, for I cannot."

Shinka stared at the girl before her, unamused. "That's not an answer I can accept," she said plainly.

Sanae leaned forward, slamming her palms on the table. "Well, what _will_ you accept? Shinka Nibutani, can you jump into my mind and make sense of it when I can't? Can you look into my heart and understand what refuses to be understood?"

Shinka grit her teeth. She _did_ expect a stalemate of this sort of nature but the meeting of her expectations did nothing to quell her irritation. The defiant tone Sanae spoke in only further intensified her anger. "Well then, _Sanae Dekomori_..." A harsh smiled pulled at Shinka's lips as she lowered her head. "Will you allow me to try?"

Sanae took a moment to process Shinka's words but upon doing so shrunk at the very notion. "I... uh..."

"We can learn together why you so desperately cling to the person I once was. It'll be _fun!_ " She poked Sanae's forehead. "Right?" The sadistic edge in her voice as well as the poke seemed to cause the chuuni significant discomfort - even Shinka herself was somewhat put off by it. She shelved that feeling, however, and pressed on, giving Sanae a good hard stare. "Well, Dekomori? What's your answer?"

Sanae slowly pulled back to her place across the table, head down and hugging her arms. It looked meek and timid - totally unlike Sanae. "Why do you care...?" she asked.

Shinka found herself chuckling. The irony of what she was about to say was not lost on her. Even as she said it, she could barely believe it herself. "I don't know either. This little venture of ours will go both ways, it seems."

There was silence for a time. Then, for the first time in three days, Shinka heard a genuine laugh from Sanae. "Fate really _is_ bringing us together. This is foolishness of the most absurd degree."

Shinka tilted her head curiously at the change in demeanor. She offered her hand. "Do we have a deal, Dekomori?"

With a smile on her face, Sanae took the hand and gave it a firm shake. "The contract is sealed. Even in death, the blood pact binds us."

Shinka sweatdropped. "This is already kind of inherently weird," she groaned. "But please - _please_ \- don't make any weirder." She sighed and rested her cheek on her palm. "And this is _not_ a blood pact." She then added, annoyed.

"Oh? How so?" Sanae stood and pointed dramatically at the window. "It is a full moon tonight. All we're missing right now is a blood sacrifice."

Shinka rolled her eyes. "If we're missing something then it's _not a blood pact_. Now stop calling it that."

"Fiiiiine. It's just a _pact_ then." Sanae giggled.

"Mmmhmm." Shinka raised an eyebrow. "What's got you so chipper all of a sudden?"

Sanae shook her head. "Something about this whole situation just makes me happy for some reason. I don't know. It was all very sudden. One moment, the claws and fangs of death and decay had me by the neck and a single twist would end me. The next moment, they've heeled and I have control again."

"Well _that_ was a disturbing image," Shinka muttered.

Sanae walked to the door and nearly opened it but hesitated. She turned towards Shinka who remained at her seat, staring dryly at the chuuni's exit. "What?" the older girl asked.

Sanae turned back towards the door. "Nothing," she muttered. "I'll see you tomorrow, Shinka." With that, she left the room.

Shinka blinked, pleasantly surprised. She smiled. "See you tomorrow, Sanae..." She listened to the muffled footsteps echo the hall. Eventually the sounds faded and she was left in silence.

Shinka giggled to herself. "Talk about mood whiplash." She turned towards the window. Indeed it was a full moon that night. "The contract is sealed," she repeated. She stood up and picked up her bag. "So it is..."

She locked the room and departed.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka arrived at the gate, only to find it closed with Sanae struggling to jump over it. Sanae turned back, teary eyed. "We're trapped," she cried dramatically.

Shinka sighed and lowered her bag, situating herself at the base of the gate. She squatted and locked her hands into a sling front of her. "Come on. I'll give you a boost," she said tiredly.

Sanae nodded and stood some distance from the gate. After getting the go signal from Shinka, she ran towards her senpai, expecting a dramatic increase in altitude, only to make hard contact with the metal bars of the gate instead. She turned to her shoulder to cushion the impact.

"Hey! You said you were going to give me a boost!" Sanae yelled in outrage.

"You broke into a sprint! I would have gotten speared in the stomach if I didn't move." Shinka put her hands on her hips and asked in a scolding tone, "Why don't you know this? Haven't you done this before?"

Sanae sweatdropped, scratching her head. "Ah, yeah... yeah... No, not really..."

Shinka rolled her eyes and returned to the gate. "Okay, let's try this again. Aim for my hands. Try to use them as a stepping stone."

It took them ten more minutes of trial and error before they were able to leave...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Rikka put down the phone, frowning. Yuuta looked up from his meal and noticed this. "What's wrong?"

"Dekomori hasn't arrived home yet..."

There was a silence that passed between the two of them as they realized what must have happened.

Yuuta blinked. "How did you...?"

Rikka shrugged. "The Eye of the Wicked Lord sees all?"

Yuuta sighed. "Whatever. Just get back here and finish your dinner."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh that was a fun chapter to write. For one, I have Shinka relapsing into her chuunibyou phase without her freaking out about it, and another, that little gag with them getting trapped in the school really amuses me.
> 
> I am not entirely satisfied with how I went about the second Dekotani confrontation though I honestly don't know what I could have done to make it better while still having things progress in the same way I wanted it to. So I made concessions. Thus we get this chapter.
> 
> I'm sure you all know by now the reason Sanae suddenly felt happy during that conversation. If you don't then take a guess - if you've read/watched enough romance, your guess is probably right.
> 
> In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until the next one!


	7. Arguments and Awareness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on fire with this story this past few chapters. Multiple releases all within a week or so of each other. I'll be riding this high until it subsides. Expect the updates to return to the usual 1-2 months once said writing high is over.
> 
> Enjoy if you can - if you can't, I apologize.

The morning commute to school was an interesting one for Yuuta and Rikka. No, the commute was it was actually kind of boring. Rather, the walk from the station to the classroom as what was interesting.

Everything was pretty much the same as they walked to the gates. They left the station, crossed the train tracks, passed a small empty playground, and found themselves surrounded by other students from the school on their way to the same destination.

And then Sanae came sprinting in, sliding under Yuuta's legs and knocking him down. She stood over him with a triumphant grin, pointing at him with all the dramatic flair of the textbook delusional teenager. "Dark Flame Master! I see the morning sunlight has dulled your senses!" She turned to Rikka. "Good morning, Master. It is a fine day today." With that she, sprinted away as abruptly as she appeared.

Yuuta sat up, rubbing his now sore backside. "Well, that certainly cured my drowsiness," he muttered to himself. "What was that all about?"

Rikka offered her hand. With some effort, she managed to pull him up. "Dekomori is in good spirits today. The stars must have aligned last night when she and Mori Summer did battle."

Yuuta sweatdropped. "I'll admit that the full moon last night was a coincidence but _battle_ seems like the wrong word to use."

Rikka shook her head. "No. They did battle. A battle of minds and mouths."

Yuuta smirked. "You may want to reword that. Tell me, what image does a 'battle of mouths' invoke?"

Rikka thought for a bit, letting her imagination paint her the picture. The picture she pictured was quite vivid, to say the least. She blushed and looked at her feet, mumbling unintelligibly about something or other. Yuuta chuckled at her reaction.

He lightly tapped her shoulder. "Come on. Let's keep walking."

By the time they reached their classroom, Shinka was already in her seat, reading the notes she wrote yesterday while she was studying during the club meeting. It was a curious thing to see her so quiet and calm, not talking with her seatmates as she usually does. She didn't look like she was upset at anything - she looked quite content, actually.

Yuuta had to wonder. First Sanae, and now Shinka - what the heck happened yesterday after they left? What did those two tell each other that's got them all in such a good mood? Not that Yuuta minded. He was quite pleased to know that the two are on better terms now. Still, one had to admit that the events leading to this would be interesting to know about - especially considering what happened just the day before.

"Yuuta, what's wrong?" Yuuta turned to Rikka who had walked a few paces to her seat before noticing that her partner in crime so to speak was still standing by the door. She followed his gaze to Shinka before frowning. She closed the distance quickly, pushing him out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"Yuuuutaa, why were you staring at Nibutani?" Rikka whined, grabbing at his collar and pulling.

Yuuta smiled wryly, realizing what must have happened. "You don't happen to be jealous, are you?" he asked, equal parts looking forward to and dreading the reaction he'd get.

Rikka's face grew a shade redder and her tugging at his shirt gained intensity. "Yuuuuuutaaa~" she whined louder.

 _Bingo,_ Yuuta thought, somewhat amused.

"Well aren't you two lovey-dovey today?" an approaching voice asked, familiar and somewhat irritating to Yuuta's ears. "Makoto Isshiki," Yuuta muttered as if it were a curse. Rikka went wide eyed upon realizing that someone was watching her outburst and hid behind Yuuta.

"What do you want, Isshiki?" Yuuta asked dryly.

Makoto Isshiki, crew-cut and all, smirked at Yuuta. "Nothing, nothing. Just heading to my classroom," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "You two just happened to be in the way. Anyway, good morning. Carry on with your lover's-quarrel." He walked past them, giving them a wink and a finger gun gesture as he did so.

Yuuta sweatdropped. He was well aware of how obvious they were being - standing in the middle of the hall didn't help - but Makoto could show at least the barest amount of tact and not tease them like he did. He turned to Rikka and his sweatdrop continued to find her pouting angrily at her as she clung to the back of his cardigan.

"C'mon, Rikka. You know Nibutani and I are just friends." He gave her a small smile, to which Rikka looked away from, still pouting. "Besides. Just look at her right now and compare that to yesterday. Aren't you the least bit curious?" Rikka nodded slowly at first but gradually increased her pace until she looked quite enthusiastic at the thought.

"This must be a result of-"

Rikka was just about to start rambling about another delusional theory as to the cause of the recent changes to Shinka's demeanor before Yuuta cut her off. "Why don't we just ask her?" Rikka pouted once more. "That's boring, though," she muttered.

Yuuta chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, so it is. Let's get back in the classroom. Our classmates are probably wondering why you pulled me out of the classroom after we only just got there."

Rikka raised one finger in a gesture to wait. She then gave the door a nice solid kick. Yelps of pain came muffled from the other side, to which Rikka crossed her arms and smiled smugly. Some of their classmates must have been eavesdropping.

Upon opening the door, they found Shinka Nibutani and Kazari Kannagi kneeling in front of them, clutching their ears. Yuuta raised an eyebrow as the two casualties looked at him, one of them scowling in annoyance and another pouting as if she were a victim. "You deserve it for spying on us," he told them dryly.

Yuuta noticed the teacher approaching behind him and quickly ushered the two eavesdropping girls back to their seats even as he and Rikka rushed to their own. Class continued after without further incident.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

As it was Saturday, classes lasted only until noon, allowing most of the students to do as they wished for the rest of the day. Sanae, of course, wished to spend her time with her comrades in arms in their base of operations, so to speak. Thus, she marched triumphantly towards the club room, humming a bombastic tune as she did so. Considering that she pretty much announced her arrival the moment she got within earshot, no one was surprised when she slammed open the door and declared that she was there.

"Afternoon, Deko," Yuuta greeted, not even looking up from the text book he was reading as he ate lunch. "Rikka went to the rest room and Nibutani buying lunch."

Yuuta Togashi and Makoto Isshiki sat at the table, the former eating from a packed lunch box while reading and the latter munching on a large meat bun bought at the cafateria, eyeing her curiously.

Sanae looked at Isshiki with disdain and thrust her palm towards him, raising her other arm behind her. "Outsider! What are you doing in our club room!?" Isshiki blinked in response, taking a bite out of his meat bun. Sanae pouted, swatting one of her twintail-sandbags in his direction. It hit him square in the nose - thankfully, it wasn't that heavy a hit. "Answer me, plebeian!"

Isshiki frowned, crossed his arms, and turned his back on Sanae before continuing to eat. "I wanted to hang out with Togashi," he answered between bites. "You didn't have to be mean. That hurt, you know?"

Sanae continued pouting, turning to Yuuta with a questioning glare. "It's not like it isn't allowed," Yuuta argued, eyes still glued to his book. "Besides. You were fine with him last year and the year before that."

"But he had a purpose then. He was here to woo the Empress of Eternal Slumber, Kumin Tsuyuri." Sanae raised her hand in a fist. "He had a burning passion that disregarded all obstacles and placed him at the foot of the Sleeping One, awaiting her return to the world of the waking! Now..." Sanae lowered her fist an placed a hand on her hip, turning unenthusiastically towards Isshiki. "Now, he's a smoldering shell of a man, with no purpose or drive."

"Hey! I take offence to that!" Isshiki yelled, taking another aggressive bite of his meat bun, now almost completely eaten.

"So you do," Yuuta muttered, closing his book and now devoting all of his attention to finishing his lunch. "Just let him stay, Dekomori. There's nothing wrong with a little company."

Sanae sighed. "I suppose I'll let it slide." She swung her arm to the side, pointing her other arm aggressively towards Isshiki. "Be grateful that I am in a merciful mood, outsider. Otherwise there would be hell to pay." After then, she plopped herself down beside Yuuta, glancing curiously at the he book set aside. It was an algebra text book.

"What lesson are they teaching you, anyway?" she muttered, flipping through the pages.

"Logarithms," Yuuta answered, as if upset by the word he just uttered. "I barely understand it," he groaned.

Sanae tilted her head at the text book, open to the page regarding the topic in question. "Seems easy enough," she muttered. "This is a little bit like division, but with exponents rather than regular numbers."

Yuuta went wide eyed. "You understand it?"

Sanae stared intently at the page. "Not exactly. Give me a few minutes. I may be able to explain it to you."

Yuuta leaned enthusiastically towards Sanae. "Please do."

As Sanae analyzed the contents of the text book, the door slid open, through which Shinka and Rikka entered. "Afternoon," Shinka greeted with a casual wave. She glanced at Isshiki. "What's _he_ doing here?" she asked, obviously uninterested despite asking.

Isshiki leaned forward and grabbed hold of Yuuta's collar. "Why do none of your friends like me, Togashi~!"

"How should I know? Ask them yourself." Yuuta repeatedly swatted Isshiki's hands until he let go. He frowned at his cardigan. "Jeez man. This took forever to unwrinkle after this morning."

"Well it's not _my_ fault you upset your girl friend. Maybe if you were a little more gentle and loving."

"How does that have anything to do with this? It wouldn't have gotten wrinkled again if you didn't overreact. Who cares if they don't like you? It's not like that _hate_ you."

As the two boys argued, Rikka took a seat next to Sanae, glancing over the younger girl's shoulder. Rikka grimaced upon seeing the topic and stopped looking, instead pulling out her lunch box with the intention of eating. Shinka sat across from Sanae and Rikka, opening the plastic wrap of a packed sandwich - it was tuna, based on the markings on the wrapper - dropping the other two packs on the table - one was another tuna, while the other was chicken. "Help yourselves," she said, taking a small bite of her sandwich.

"Don't mind if I do," Isshiki said, picking up the chicken sandwich.

Sanae perked up upon seeing the food. "Ah, nourishment will be necessary to continue this analysis." She grabbed the remaining pack, quickly tearing it open and quickly devouring its contents.

"Chew, idiot," Shinka scolded. "What, do you wanna choke or something?"

Sanae swallowed the food in her mouth. "I chew faster than your senses can reliably detect. You can never hope to- ack-" she began coughing causing Shinka to roll her eyes. She pulled out a bottle of water from her bag, casually tossing it over. After a few gulps, Sanae gasped. "I thank you. You have saved my life."

"Now what have we learned?" Shinka asked dryly.

"That I must not eat at my full speed as it may lead to a choking hazard!" Sanae exclaimed.

Shinka sighed. "Close enough." She continued eating.

Sanae suddenly sat up straight. "Ah, Dark Flame Master. I have deciphered the code you've been trying to crack. What parts have you had trouble with?"

Yuuta scooted closer and leaned towards the book, pointing towards the particular problems he didn't understand. "These ones have been giving me hell."

"Ah, those ones you need to derive the answer from the given."

"Show me how."

Yuuta leaned in close. Rikka did similarly - most likely, she too had trouble with the topic. Shinka stared at the group curiously.

"Kinda makes you jealous, eh?" Shinka raised an eyebrow as Isshiki spoke to her. He too was staring at Sanae's study group. "Man, I wish I was in Togashi's place. He got girls all over him."

"Mmhhmm." Shinka was unimpressed by Isshiki's reasoning though she would agree that it did make her feel at least a little bit jealous. She didn't quite understand the feeling, but she'd be lying if she stated otherwise. Not that she'd admit it aloud. She wasn't close enough to Isshiki to tell him and she quite honestly didn't want to be that close to him. Thus, she put a finger on his ever approaching cheek and pushed him away. "Nice try. Leave me alone."

He shrugged. "Eh, couldn't hurt." He levered himself upright and picked up his bag. "Welp, looks like you guys are gonna be busy. I think I'll go now. See you around." The study group of three mumbled their goodbyes, not really paying attention to him. He clutched his heart dramatically. "So cruel in their disinterest," he muttered to himself. With that final word, he left the room.

Shinka watched the boy's exit, as understated as it was. Even as his ever fading footsteps got overpowered by the muttering of Sanae, Yuuta, and Rikka, Shinka's gaze remained on the door.

After a while, she sighed and lowered her head onto the table. Her food was gone, there was no one to talk to, and she wasn't in the mood to study or go home. She had nothing left to do. Thus, she made like Kumin and took a nap. Sleep came surprisingly easy to her...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka awoke feeling a little bit groggy. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. _Time,_ she wondered. She pulled out her phone and checked. 14:30 - she had been asleep for two hours or so. She glanced around the room. Only two bags remained in the corner, with a notebook left open on the table. The writing on the notebook was neat and easy to read - obviously Sanae's.

"Hmm. Everyone's left," she muttered. She rubbed her eyes again, still feeling a minor headache.

The door opened. "Oh. I see you're done channeling Kumin Tsuyuri." Sanae entered, still wiping her hands on a handkerchief. "How was your nap?"

"Terrible," Shinka groaned, laying her head on the table once more. "I feel more tired than before..."

"Hmm? Then you must not have channeled her power correctly." Sanae took a seat and continued writing on her notebook.

Shinka watched the younger girl curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Making notes," Sanae answered curtly. "The topic we tackled earlier seems difficult to explain. I may have trouble simplifying for my classmates should they ask for my help in the future. Unless the curriculum changes, we're tackling this topic next year."

Shinka nodded, drifting out of consciousness again. When she next awoke, a blanket was draped over her. Sanae remained where Shinka last saw her, no longer writing but still reading through her notes. Shinka blinked once before closing her eyes once more.

"How long do you plan to sleep? It's better you do it at the nurse's office or better yet at home."

Sanae's voice jerked Shinka back to the world of the waking. After a few seconds of processing, Shinka agreed that she had a point. She pushed herself up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Sorry for keeping you," Shinka muttered. "I just feel... really tired..."

Sanae waved at her dismissively. "You have a terrible constitution. It's only natural for you to feel that way."

"On what basis would you say _that_?" Shinka growled, annoyed.

Sanae smirked. "You're a normal human. Channeling the power of a veritable god would wear heavily on any mortal being. Of course you're tired."

"If that's your idea for a joke, it's not funny." Shinka's response was flat and controlled, though she was visibly displeased.

Sanae giggled quietly. "Just making the most of the situation. It just feels wrong if I acted otherwise."

"Mmhhmm." The reply did not appease Shinka's annoyance though it did make sense. She wouldn't necessarily admit to it, but she did somewhat agree that the thought of Sanae acting nice to her _would_ feel wrong. Having gotten a taste of it just a year prior, an actual nice Sanae made her unsettled. Too weird. Too different. Too... too unearned...

Shinka frowned at that last thought as she shouldered her bag. Sanae was ready to go as well. The two turned off the lights, locked the door, and left for home.

Unearned? What? That didn't make sense. How would Sanae acting nice feel unearned? What, does that mean she didn't deserve people acting nice to her? That was a stupid notion. _Everyone_ deserved kindness until proven otherwise. How on Earth did Shinka show that she didn't deserve Sanae's kindness? Sanae struck first on nearly every occasion. From their very first encounter, _she_ had been the one to make them enemies. _She_ was the one at fault.

And yet, it wasn't like Shinka disagreed with the thought. She could see Yuuta or Rikka acting nice to her. She was one of their only real friends and they were both naturally caring. With them, it made sense. With Sanae... She was abrasive, bombastic, charismatic - she was a lot of things. But the most relevant was that she was proud. Yes, she was caring - after watching her and Rikka for almost three years, that much was obvious - but there were things her pride would not allow - not without a good reason.

Did Shinka ever give her a good reason? Maybe. Once. When Sanae found out that Shinka Nibutani really was Mori Summer once upon a time. Except that wasn't a good reason. Not to Shinka. Especially now that she's experienced what it entailed. Willing or not, everything about that entire incident was based on information that shouldn't have been relevant. It felt so stupid. It felt so fake. And it felt so wrong. The kind of kindness that Sanae showed back then was kindness Shinka couldn't accept. She shouldn't have accepted it when she got it.

Shinka's mind went in circles. It went on and on. She barely even noticed the walk to the station. The next thing she knew, she was in the train, watching the city flit by outside. Strangely enough, Sanae was at her side.

"You looked deep in thought," Sanae said quietly. "You wouldn't respond when I said your name."

Shinka frowned. "Sorry. I'm really out of it right now."

"It's okay. Just try to be aware of your surroundings when you get off the train. The next station's your stop."

Sure enough, Sanae was right. A brief look out of the window immediately showed her a landmark indicating her proximity to her stop. After a few minutes, the train pulled in, slowing to a stop.

Shinka stood, hesitating. "I'll see you around?"

Sanae nodded. "See you, Shinka."

Shinka smiled softly as her name was uttered. "See you, Sanae."

She got off the train and headed home, leaving Sanae to continue on, waiting for her stop. As the ex-chuuni walked, she couldn't help but wonder why the two had spent the day together like that. Was it because of the agreement they had yesterday? Maybe. Whatever the reason, Shinka somehow felt it was worth it. Hearing Sanae say her name made her happy - happier than anything and everything she ever experienced. It didn't make sense and quite frankly was a little bit scary. She didn't quite understand what she was feeling, though she had some suspicions. And suspicions they remained as she quickly shelved the issue. If it really was what she was suspecting then thinking about it would only make it worse. Better to just let it happen than to worry and cause herself undue stress. Still, the thought wasn't completely unpleasant. Maybe someday she'll address it but today was not that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had half a mind writing what Yuuta and Rikka were doing while Shinka and Sanae were in the club room - they were grocery shopping. I decided that it wasn't really needed as the conversation I would've had them have didn't necessarily have to be in a grocery store or in this chapter.
> 
> So about this chapter. This is perhaps the most stream-of-consciousness chapter in this entire fic - as of this writing at least. When you take into account just how much pointless dialogue there is in this chapter, you'll probably see why. Still, it was a lot of fun. I was trying to make it seem like something you'd see in the anime. Perhaps I succeeded though that's for you to decide. I'm just glad I was about to cram as many amusing scenes as I did - amusing to me, at least.
> 
> Shinka is starting to realize her feelings for Sanae - and it took an entire half-chapter's worth of inner monologue for it to happen. Honestly, I could have probably lessened the number of words that made up her thoughts but considering how rambly I wanted it to be, I think it's a good length. Overall, I don't dislike how it turned out.
> 
> Well, that's that chapter over and done with. Hope you enjoyed reading it because I certainly enjoyed writing. Until next chapter.


	8. A Devil's Meddling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that writing high lasted all but two chapters. Disappointing. In any case, here is the next chapter.
> 
> Enjoy if you can - if you can't, I apologize.

 

**CHUUNIBYOU**

From her bed, Shinka Nibutani stared at her uniform, hanged on the door knob of her closet. She was hesitant to put it on for reasons she couldn't piece together. Something about it being June second? Why would the date make her not want to change?

 _Ah, right,_ Shinka thought, remembering the reason for her reluctance. _We start wearing the summer uniform today._

With that realization, she returned her navy-blue cardigan to its place in her closet, replacing it with her yellow sweater vest.

She held the vest at arm's length, tilting her head curiously at the clothing. "You know," she muttered. "It's taken me three years to decide this but I really do think the summer uniforms look better."

She swatted the idle thought aside and tossed the vest to her bed, taking off her pajamas. After a few minutes, she posed in front of the mirror, now changed into her uniform. "Yup. Like these better," she said, picking up the idle thought once more.

Now ready for school, she picked up her bag and exited her room.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"You know," Yuuta muttered to himself. "I think this might be an interesting Monday."

Yuuta and Rikka sat next to each other on the table, eating breakfast. Across from them sat Kuzuha and Satone who were doing similarly.

"Ooh. I'm intrigued," Satone said, rubbing her hands together. "I may or may not drop by your club room, then."

"I haven't even said _why_ I think it'll be interesting." Yuuta sighed, not sure what to make of the self-proclaimed devil-girl. "Don't you have your own club in your own school to attend?"

She snorted, giving him a dismissive wave. "Why the heck would I have that? The people from my school are all total normies."

Yuuta raised an eyebrow. "So everyone who doesn't have chuunibyou is a normy?" He asked dryly.

Satone shrugged. "Probably? It's not like _all_ people without it are normies. It's more that _we_ aren't. We who reject the reality and create our own - we who see what others do not - we who mingle with worlds that are not our own - everything that makes us who we are -they are the reasons we're _not_ normies."

As Satone waxed philosophical over the nature of normies and how it related to chuunibyou, Yuuta glanced at Rikka. He sweatdropped upon noticing that she was hanging on every word. _Of course she would…_

One might wonder why Satone Shichimiya broke fast with her neighbors in their apartment that morning rather than in her own. As it happened, she was alone the night prior and had opted to spend said night at the Togashi-residence… without telling anyone. By the time everyone woke up, they found Satone asleep on the couch. They very well couldn't just kick her out - not without feeling about about it, at least - so they shrugged and accepted it. Rikka was happiest to have her, though.

"But now that I think about it, it doesn't really matter. Anyway, Hero, why do you think today will be interesting?"

"Oh? Well..." Yuuta paused, thinking of how to phrase what he was about it say. "You know how Nibutani and Dekomori made up last Friday? Well, we didn't really get to hang out with them much on Saturday because we had to buy groceries but they were acting kinda weird. It's wasn't that they were ignoring each other but it all seemed... quieter? Something like that? They weren't fighting the way they used to. Like, they still fought, but it wasn't as overblown - it was over Sanae not chewing her food of all things. Don't you think that's a bit weird?"

Satone tilted her head curiously. "I don't see how that's interesting. Doesn't that just mean they're getting along better? Or... well... getting along differently at the very least?"

Yuuta frowned, crossing his arms. "You know, when you put it that way, yeah, that _does_ sound kinda boring."

"I find it fascinating!" Rikka exclaimed. "The oaths they spoke on the night of Thursday under the light of the full moon - it has caused a transformation in them. I wish to see the extents of the changes."

"Hmm... I'm conflicted now," Yuuta muttered.

"Jeez. You're all making such a big deal out of all this," Kuzuha groaned. "It's just another Monday to me. What difference does it make if someone thinks otherwise?"

The three chuuni stared at her for an entire second before they reacted - Yuuta with a sigh and slow nod, Rikka with a frown and a turn of the head, and Satone with a maniacal laugh. "Well said, Kuzuha! You are wiser than all of us!"

With a wry smile, Yuuta continued eating. "I probably shouldn't have brought this up in the first place..." he muttered.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

The day was disappointingly _not_ interesting. It may have just been Yuuta's expectations spoiling what would otherwise be a perfectly enjoyable day. In fact - he was all but certain that he was only upset because how big a deal they made of it that morning.

As convincing as his train of thought was to Yuuta, he did not voice it. He very much doubted that Rikka would agree with him - and even if she did, she would probably have different reasons for agreeing. Yuuta, for one, was not in the mood to humor her in that regard.

Thus, the two of them trudged to the club room after school, silence and unhappy.

"Hey, anyone here?" Yuuta asked as she slid open the door.

Just as she promised that morning, Satone sat boredly at the table, reading what looked to be an algebra text book. She perked up when she heard Yuuta's greeting. "Oh, Hero and the Eye of the Wicked Lord!"

"Greetings Magical Devil Girl"

"Yo, Shichimiya."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Yuuta and Rikka took a seat at the table, Yuuta pulling out his own algebra text book from his back. Rikka and Satone also began chatting. Then of course, right as he was about to start reading, the sound of running footsteps slowly grew louder outside the hall, joined by the cheerful humming.

The door slammed open as Sanae announced her arrival. "The wielder of the Mjolnir Hammer, Sanae Dekomori makes her grand entrance!" The bombastic blonde posed dramatically, arms raised and an arrogant grin on her face.

Outside, another voice groaned. "Honestly, Sanae, do you _always_ have to do that?" Shinka emerged from behind Sanae and ducked under her raised arms, entering the room.

Sanae giggled as she relaxed her posture. "Of course! How else would I have my comrades acknowledge my arrival?"

Shinka rolled her eyes. "Maybe by greeting them? Use some common sense, stupid." She blinked upon noticing the three in the room. "Hey. Good afternoon."

What followed was another exchange of greetings. Then Shinka and Sanae seated themselves.

Yuuta and Rikka quickly leaned towards Sanae. "You know that trick you told us two days ago? It totally worked! Pretty much aced the quiz earlier."

Sanae laughed haughtily. "Of course it worked. I checked some references on the internet and the way they explained it was incredibly similar to my method. I was confident that you'd have no trouble with it."

Satone tilted her head curiously before turning to Shinka. "What's up with them?"

"They had a little study session last Saturday."

"Ah." Understanding dawned in Satone's eyes, followed by mild confusion. "Aren't they Deko's senior by like a year? How come-"

"I have no idea, Shichimiya. Honestly, the fact that Sanae hasn't skipped a year yet still confuses me."

Satone nodded slowly. She then leaned in close, whispering. "First-name basis now, I see. Congratulations, Mori Summer."

Shinka stiffened. "Don't call me Mori Summer," she growled.

Satone giggled. "It's cute how much it bothers you. Don't worry, just teasing. Seriously though, you two've gotten pretty close since the last time I saw you two. What's it been, two weeks?"

Shinka frowned, looking away. "One and a half," she muttered. "A lot happened, okay?"

"I'll say. Perhaps the vitriol has evolved into something else? Something deeper?"

Shinka stared quitely at Satone, attempting to find the meaning in her words. "What are you getting at, Shichimiya?" she asked with suspicion.

Satone smirked. "Dekomori adored you in the past, Nibutani. You may no longer be who you once were but I don't believe that adoration ever left. I may have merely taken a new form."

"Hmm." It soon dawned on Shinka - she realized what Satone was saying. And if what she was saying was true... _It'd actually make a scary amount of sense,_ Shinka admitted. _Like a child who bullies their crush..._ A small smile found itself onto Shinka's lips. "Sanae Dekomori," she muttered. "And all this time, she tried to deny it by calling me fake."

"Names have power, Shinka Nibutani. Whether she was aware of it or not, Deko associated that name with her feelings. That being said..."

The realization hit like a truck. "I told her Mori Summer was dead," Shinka breathed. She turned to Satone. "I just... just..." _I basically told her to kill her feelings for me. That's why she was so upset..._ She scowled. "How do you even know this?"

"I come from a realm outside of yours. Thus, I see things from a different perspective, unclouded by the veil cast by proximity. I saw the signs and merely pieced it together." Satone chuckled. "Seriously, though. Anyone with eyes and an open mind would have noticed. The only reason Hero and Rikka haven't noticed is because they're too caught up in their own fantasy to see the other one blossoming in front of them. It's almost amazing how oblivious those two are..."

"Oblivious," Shinka repeated. She turned to the study group and found that, indeed, they were still too focused to listen to the chuuni and ex-chuuni's conversation. "You're not wrong."

She returned her attention to Satone. "Why are you telling me this?"

 _"Because."_ Satone grinned. "I want you two to be a thing."

Shinka felt her cheeks flush. " _What_? Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?" She turned away. "Besides, I don't even like her that way."

"Not _yet_."

"No," Shinka snapped. "There is no ' _yet_ '. ' _Yet_ ' implies the existence a foregone conclusion that has yet to arrive. The eventuality you are speaking of will _never_ arrive. There will never be a time where I want to start dating her."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

"Shichimiya," Shinka growled.

"Do you really hate the thought of it _that much_?"

"I..." _I do,_ Shinka wanted to say. Except, she felt in her heart that it wasn't true. So, then, what would her answer be? "I don't know..."

Shinka cursed internally. For the past several days, the answers to the big questions she kept getting were always those three irritating words. It frustrated her that she wasn't more sure of her answers.

 _I don't hate Sanae Dekomori,_ Shinka said to herself. _And after everything that's happened in the past three years - especially last week - I might even be a little bit in love with her._ She leaned forward, resting her chin on her palms. _But to actually go ahead and start dating her? No. That's not something that I can do. My pride won't allow it._ She frowned. _But is my pride really that important...?_

_Yes it is..._

"I'm open to the idea," Shinka muttered. "But there is no way in all the realms of the world that I'll make the first move. She's always been the instigator. That won't change - not even with this."

"If that's what you want, then so be it." Satone sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Shinka Nibutani, you proud fool."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"You know," Satone began. "Today was an interesting Monday after all."

The was the conclution she came up with while she, Rikka, and Yuuta walked home from the station. Much to her displeasure, neither Yuuta nor Rikka agreed with her.

"I don't know. It was actually kinda boring," Yuuta said with a sigh. "Set myself up for disappointment, honestly."

"What about you, Eye of the Wicked Lord? You saw nothing that kept your attention?"

Rikka shook her head. "I bested the most evil algebra professor in a battle of minds, but other than that, today was what I would call uneventful."

"Oh?" Satone nodded slowly. "Well, perhaps your expectations colored your experience. I for one found today to be filled with adventure - adventure of a certain kind."

Yuuta gave her a deadpan look. "Really? What kind of adventure, exactly?"

Satone laughed. "One of love and romance of the purest kind!"

"Uh huh..." Yuuta was not convinced and continued walking. Rikka on the other hand looked at her curiously.

Satone smiled slyly. "Are you aware of what it is? The purest form of love?" The question was met with a shake of the head. "Do you want to know?" That next question was met with an eager nod. Satone's smile became a grin. "Very well, Eye of the Wicked Lord. Meet me later tonight and I shall show you."

With that, Satone ran ahead, pushing past Yuuta in the process.

"Oi! Watch it, Shichimiya!"

"Sorry!" Satone continued running.

Rikka could only stare in bewilderment.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka opened her eyes, only just realizing the she fell a sleep. Feeling tense, she sat up and looked around.

The room was empty, with the orange lights of sunset streaming in through the window. Sounds of activity remained outside - the sports teams' practice weren't done yet. And of course, across the table, was Sanae Dekomori, slumped forward in a sleeping heap, much like Shinka was just a moment ago.

Shinka crossed her arms and stared.

 _I know the reason for everything, now._ She thought to herself. _And our agreement was that we'd help each other figure things out. With the knowledge I have now, I could just tell her and be done with it..._ She frowned. _Do I tell her...?_

As Shinka thought on that question, Sanae stirred. The chuuni sluggishly sat up and looked at Shinka. "Mori Summer?" she whispered sleepily. She then blinked. "Ah! Shinka. Shinka Nibutani. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," Shinka said, cutting Sanae off. "Just... Just don't let it happen again..."

There was a short pause before Sanae responded with a nod.

_Man, I feel terrible now... Dammit, Shichimiya. Why'd you have to tell me? Why'd you give me this burden to carry?_

The question remained, though. Should Shinka tell Sanae? They were alone and Sanae was awake now. It would be so easy to say: I've figured it out and the terms of our agreement have been met. Love was the reason for everything. It was such a stupid and cliched reason, and yet it was true. And even worse, Sanae would absolutely agree to it without question. What reason was there _not_ to tell her?

"Glad to see you're up. I'm going home. Feel free to join me." With that, Shinka picked up her bag and left. Sanae merely stared at her as she made her exit.

Sanae did not follow her. Shinka was under the impression that she would but for whatever reason, she didn't. Shinka bit her lip.

 _Mori Summer,_ she thought angrily as she walked to the station. _You should have told her. Dammit, you should have told her._ She broke into a run. _What the hell am I even doing anymore?_

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go. Finally finished this chapter.
> 
> I decided to give Satone Shichimiya some much needed characterization. Before this chapter, she's had one scene the the end of the second chapter. I'd say it's barely enough screen time, especially considering how many scenes have had Makoto Isshiki in them. In any case, that was my alternative interpretation of her character. She's a DekoSummer shipper and gave Shinka a little push. Granted, she may have pushed too early, but that's nothing to worry about.
> 
> Other than that, I don't really know what else to say. I'll not make this author's note longer. Until next chapter then.


	9. On the Topic of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps it's unreasonable that I don't have regular scheduled updates? Maybe, maybe not. Here's the new chapter.
> 
> Enjoy if you can - if you can't I apologize.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka felt a brief panic when she jolted awake. She was surrounded by darkness and a deafening silence that would eventually drive her insane. But the moment passed and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was only a nightmare. Already the details of it were fading in her mind. She buried her face into her hands and laughed ironically at her unjustified terror.

Shaking her head, she removed her hands from her face and began groping her night stand for her phone. Sure enough, she found it. After a second of fumbling, she pressed the power button.

Light assaulted her eyes and she had to squint until they adjusted to the brightness. When they finally did, she saw that it was a quarter to six in the morning. She frowned at her phone. _It's way too early,_ she complained to herself. Even as she thought that, she stood up and began stretching. _Well, I'm awake now. Might as well get ready for school today..._

A cold shower and a light breakfast later, Shinka stood in front of her mirror, examining her figure. She lost some weight ever since the accident - not enough that she'd need new clothes or anything like that, but enough that it was noticeable. She wasn't sure whether to be pleased or displeased about that. After a pause of consideration, shelved the thought, deeming it unimportant.

 _Since we had an algebra quiz yesterday, that means we have a new lesson today,_ she thought absentmindedly as she put on her uniform. _I definitely passed that quiz. Whether or not I got a high grade is up in the air, though... Togashi and Takanashi had help so they probably passed too. Would they get higher than me...?_ She scowled. _It'd be that midget's doing, though. For two days, they were studying with her..._ She shook her head. _No. It's good they're studying. Takanashi's grades aren't the best and Togashi's are prone to slipping if he doesn't focus. Sanae's really helping them out..._ Her expression softened. _Sanae... First name terms... She was the one who started that as well... Of course, I was quick to join her, so I guess we share the blame..._

With one final touch, that being her purely cosmetic front hair clip, she was changed. Now in her uniform, she eagerly got off the train of thought she was currently riding. If she were to continue further, she'd just upset herself. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled loudly and tore herself from the mirror. Not even a minute later, she was at her front door, bag shouldered and shoes being put on. She then began her commute to school with nary a word.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Much to Shinka's surprise, she was not the first person in the class room that morning. She wasn't even second of third. Half a dozen students were already there, some of whom were chatting with each other, some studying by themselves. In particular, Shinka saw that Kazari Kannagi was there. Their eyes met for only an instant before Kazari returned her attention to the person she was talking to. Shinka turned away as well, opting to sit at her desk rather than continue standing by the door.

At her seat, she pulled out a notebook and began writing idly. _The whispering winds speak of a warrior of immense power. Their very presence is announced by their thundering steps and the blare of unseen trumpets. Their diminutive stature proves to be no detriment to their skill as they can equal, perhaps even best, the oldest and most powerful. They stand tall even when they are short._

Shinka dryly stared at her notebook and reread what she just wrote. Upon finishing, she summarily tore out the page and ripped it apart. _This is unbelievable,_ she thought with an annoyed mix between a smile and grimace. _Why now of all times do I write stupidity like that? And did it really have to be about_ her _?_

"Is something on your mind?"

Shinka jumped in her chair upon realizing that Kazari Kannagi had taken the seat in front of her and was staring at her with eyes of interest. "Kannagi... Good morning," she greeted awkwardly.

Kazari nodded in reply, a kind smile on her face. "Good morning, Nibutani. My question still stands. Is something on your mind?"

Shinka averted her eyes. "Something like that," she answered.

To that, Kazari merely giggled. "I've been watching you for the past few days. You've been distant, staring longingly into blank space as if it held the answer to whatever question you've been burdened with."

Shinka smiled wryly as Kazari waxed poetic. She could guess where the conversation was going.

"Shinka Nibutani, if you don't mind me asking, are you in love?"

She afforded herself a sense of satisfaction at guessing correctly. At the same time, a sense of dread rose up from the pit of her stomach at the talk of love with the resident expert.

"Maybe," Shinka answered. "I'm not entirely sure." She made no effort of hide it from Kazari. As good as she was at lying for the benefit of herself, Kazari Kannagi could see straight through her.

"Hmm. Would you care to tell me who it might be?" She then closed her eyes tilted her head. "Or would you rather I guessed?"

It may have been the daring tone she had said it in, or perhaps the fact that she offered in the first place, but Shinka had a feeling that Kazari _wanted_ to guess. She'd bet a reasonable amount of money on it, even. However, the thought of letting classroom love guru psycho-analyze her for the answer was disconcerting. Then again, as Satone said just yesterday, she was quite obvious.

Ultimately, the choice was still Shinka's to make and she decided to humor Kazari. With the reluctance of a claustrophobic entering an enclosed space, she answered, "Well what do you think?"

At those words, Kazari opened her eyes and smiled a smile exponentially brighter than the one she had previously.

"There are a limited number of suspects," Kazari began. "While you are still quite sociable, the ones you interact with the most are the members of your club, two of whom are our classmates. Rikka Takanashi is unlikely to be the one. You have limited interaction with her and at most your relationship is akin to that of one between an older and younger sibling. Yuuta Togashi is a more likely candidate. Of those in your club no doubt you spend the most time talking to him. You have a trust and familiarity with him that borders on the scandalous considering he already has a girlfriend. Yet I know he's not the one either as your romantic interest is with his relationship with Takanashi rather than with him specifically. That leaves just one person."

She paused for dramatic effect.

Shinka sighed in slight annoyance. "Enough with the theatrics," she groaned. She then added, "And did you really have to give the context for your answer?"

Kazari chuckled. "I'm sure the suspense is killing you," she joked. With a shake of her head she continued.

"It's Sanae Dekomori, right? I've seen you two. Play fights, arguments - it's the usual vitriol that sooner or later turns into sexual tension and genuine care for the other. For the past three years, that has been your daily routine. Unless you're living another life completely divorced from this one, it could not be anyone but her."

"That's about as right an answer as there can be." Shinka gave her a sad smile and a shrug. "Good guess."

Kazari leaned forward and whispered. "What are you going to do about it? About your feelings, I mean."

Shinka's eyes shifted around the classroom. There were still only seven students in their class, though the sound of activity had increased compared to when their conversation started. Thankfully, none of the people currently in her class was very talkative.

"I don't know," she answered. "To be honest, I think she's in love with me too. She probably has been the entire time we've known each other."

Kazari nodded slowly. "Are you opposed to the idea of dating her?"

Shinka shook her head. "No. Not really."

"Then why not date her?"

A sense of dejavu lingered in her mind as she regarded the question. Sure enough, the events of the day prior came rushing back and all she could do was smile wryly. "I've had this conversation before, Kannagi. I'll tell you that same thing I told the person who last asked me: If we're gonna start dating, I'm not the one who's making the first move."

In the brief silence following Shinka's declaration, Kazari's smile lost its brightness. A sense of disappointment and sadness seemed to radiate out of her with an intensity that matched the fires of the sun. It vanished as quickly as it appeared and what was left was a mask of a smile, hiding whatever emotion she once showed.

"Well then, how about we put it like this?" Kazari stood and turned away. "You're on your last year of high school, Nibutani. If you don't act on your feelings soon, you may never have the chance. Yes, it's your choice to grab the opportunity while it still presents itself and you're more than welcome to not take it. Just make sure you won't regret it later in life..."

With that, Kazari walked away, not looking back. Her words had been chilling, spoken with power and conviction of fate itself. They continued to echo in Shinka's ears long after class started...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Rikka's commute to school was... blurry. She didn't remember most of it as her attention was focused elsewhere. No doubt that fact was not lost of Yuuta as she was vaguely aware of a guiding hand helping her turn corners and avoid lamp posts in her daze. She made a note to thank him later when she was less distracted.

What occupied her mind that morning was something Satone had shown her just the previous night. It wasn't anything big. It wasn't even something she hadn't seen before. And yet at thought of it was strangely... exciting. What it was - that is to say, what Satone showed her - was a picture of two girls kissing. As was stated, not the first time Rikka had seen such an act. She witnessed one such kiss with her own eyes two years ago on Christmas eve. But the picture Satone showed was... different. For one, it was not an accidental kiss - the two were very much leaning into each other. It was also not what would constitute a "normal" kiss. It was more... more... more _passionate_... Like the connection between their lips was their life line and they would die without each other. All the world could fade away and they wouldn't even care, as long as they remained together...

Rikka touched her lips, feeling heat growing on her cheeks.

She thought back to that day in their second year - to the fake Mori Summer who became smitten to Sanae. At the time, she was too occupied with her own problems to pay it much heed. Looking back, she might have understood the current situation between Shinka and Sanae a bit more had she put her attention on it.

"Rikka, we're about to reach our stop. Snap out of it."

Rikka blinked. Sure enough, she was on the train, approaching the station nearest the school. With a nod, she grabbed hold of Yuuta's arm.

"Something on your mind?" Yuuta asked as they continued their walk to their school.

Rikka looked up to Yuuta. The familiar view of his worried face stilled her racing heart. And with that stillness came a certain feeling of clarity. Perhaps she should discuss it with him? Would he even have anything to say? Regardless of that, would the topic even be appropriate for their location? If not, where would be appropriate?

Rikka stopped and gestured for Yuuta to lean closer. When he did so, she whispered, "What do you know about yuri?"

Yuuta raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know about flowers?"

 _He thinks this is about lilies_... Upon realizing his misunderstanding, Rikka quickly shook her head. "No... Not that kind of yuri... The other kind..."

"Other... kind...?" Yuuta took a second to parse Rikka's words. Once they were processed, he stiffly turned away in a fit of awkwardness. "How did you find out about that?"

"Internet," Rikka answered. It wasn't a total lie. Yes, it was because of Satone that she found out. However, as the image was on her computer, it was only natural that Rikka would assume she got it from the internet - possibly some porn site considering how those two girls' hands seemed to stray towards some unmentionable places.

"That's... that's..." Yuuta seemed at a loss for words. "This is not the place to talk about it," he stated. "If you _need_ to know, we'll talk about it in the club room."

With that, their conversation came to an abrupt end.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Upon the ringing on the lunch bell, Rikka rose from her seat and walked over to Yuuta who was still in the process of removing their lunch boxes from his bag. The boy stared dryly at her. He didn't look pleased. "You really wanna hear what I have to say about it, don't you?" he asked tiredly.

Rikka nodded in response. As he was her partner in the lover's pact, it was only natural she'd want to know his opinion on matters involving love. And it would be interesting to hear how it's seen from a male's perspective.

Yuuta sighed, standing up. "Alright, let's go." As he said that, he paused to glance at Shinka. "Nibutani, you heading to the club room?" He and Rikka looked at the ex-chuuni as well, raising an eyebrow when no reply was given. The two moved closer. "Nibutani?"

Shinka's face was contemplative, a melancholic aura seeming to push everyone away. Then her eyes refocused and she blinked once. Just like that, the aura was gone and she was back to being the same Shinka they both new.

She turned to the two next to her seat. "I'm staying here," she said, giving them a look of annoyance. "Go on without me. I've got things to do."

Yuuta raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, no need to act so cold." He gave a lazy salute as he made his way to the door. "See you around."

Rikka followed him halfway before glancing back at Nibutani. Unsurprising, but still concerning, Nibutani once again had a withdrawn and pensive aura about her. She was like that all morning, actually...

Rikka frowned in concern but made no comment. She shook her head and broke into a light job to catch up to Yuuta who had already left for the club room with their lunch in hand.

By the time Rikka arrived at her destination, Yuuta had already taken a seat and set the table. His lunch box was in front of him, with Rikka's set across the table. He gestured for her to sit at the other side.

Rikka complied, opening a pack of disposable chopsticks. After a clap of their hands and a quiet _itadakemasu_ , they two began eating.

"Shinka was pretty weird, earlier," Yuuta muttered, seeming to lack an appetite despite cooking his food himself. "From the looks of things, she might be dealing with problems at home or something if she really wants to keep it secret from us..."

Rikka managed a small smile. Considering what Satone had told her earlier, there was probably a far less unpleasant explanation than family troubles. Not that problems with love weren't unpleasant as well - Rikka had firsthand experience in that regard.

"So, about that topic you asked earlier. What do you know?"

Rikka's smile vanished and was replaced with a frown. She looked down at her lunch and fidgeted in her seat, idly playing with her food. "I know it's a term for love between two girls..."

Yuuta crossed his arms and nodded sagely. "Yeah. That's right. It's actually pretty colloquial, though - just like how all animation to Japanese people is called anime. Yuri is sort of limited to those who are otaku."

Rikka recoiled at the word. Otaku had the reputation of being perverts obsessed with 2d girls. Chuunibyou or not, the thought of meeting someone like that still weirded her out.

Yuuta leaned forward and flicked her forehead. "Oh, get over yourself. Some of our classmates are otaku and they're no weirder than you. Just because they're different, doesn't mean they're bad people. You of all people should know this."

Rikka shrunk back. "R-right," she muttered. "Sorry Yuuta."

"It's fine." Yuuta sighed. "Where was it? Oh, right. Yuri's the otaku term for girls' love. The scientific term for love between the same sexes is _homosexual_ \- more specifically, a girl who loves other girls the way they normally love guys is called a _lesbian_."

The foreign sounding words echoed in Rikka's ears. "Res-bi-an..." she said slowly, trying to enunciate it correctly. " _Lesbian_ ," she finally said after a few tries. She felt a mild sense of accomplishment at being able to say it. She then turned to Yuuta. "You're strangely knowledgeable about this subject."

Yuuta scowled, looking away. "Blame Shichimiya for that. She's a bit of an enthusiast. If she didn't fall in love with me, I'd think she was a lesbian herself."

"Actually, the Magical Devil Girl was the one who brought this topic to my attention."

Yuuta winced. " _Of course_ she did. Let me guess. It was a picture of two girls locked in a passionate kiss, wasn't it?"

Rikka blinked in surprise. His guess was completely correct. "How'd you know?"

Yuuta shook his head. "She showed it to me a few days ago. Apparently she managed to sneak a picture of two of her classmates while they were on the roof of their school getting busy."

Rikka felt blood rush to her face. "T-those were her classmates!?" She grew a shade redder when her next thought came. "She took the picture herself!?"

That sort of explained some things, now that Rikka thought about it. She had wondered why the shot looked so amateurishly taken. Most of what she saw when she investigated the matter for herself looked far more- she swatted that thought away. She vigorously shook her head.

"Wait, is she like Touka? Does she take life ruining recordings of someone and post them on the internet?"

"Of course not. They're for her... uh... personal collection..." Yuuta blushed as well. After a brief pause, he yelled and flailed his arms around. "Ahhrg, never mind that! Why'd she show that to you in the first place?"

Rikka blinked suddenly realizing that she in fact did _not_ remember anymore. "I forgot," she mumbled weakly, averting her eyes.

To that Yuuta merely sighed. "Well, expect Shichimiya to show you more. She doesn't have a lot of friends who share her enthusiasm."

Rikka blinked before scowling. "You look at dirty pictures together?" she asked, looking betrayed.

To that, Yuuta went into a bit of a panic. "N-n-no! I don't even want to, but she keeps showing them to me! You know what Shichimiya's like, Rikka. It's really hard to say no to her when she's trying to make you do something."

An illogical rage seemed to well up into Rikka. She slammed her palms on the table. "Your mind has been corrupted by that temptress!"

"If mine is corrupted then so is yours! Can we please get off this topic now!?"

"No!" Rikka declared, adamant in her position.

"Then what do you want me to do about it? She's not gonna stop when I tell her to stop, and nothing I do will force her."

"I can erect a barrier around you that will mask your presence from her. That way-"

Yuuta cut her off with a chop to the forehead. "Think of a serious solution!"

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Sanae stood in front of the club room, listening to the conversation between her master, the Eye of the Wicked Lord, and her master's lover, the Dark Flame Master. Really, it was more of an argument. She had half an urge to enter and break up the fight. The other urge was to get as far away from the couple as possible.

She went with the latter. It was a lover's quarrel. No need for an outsider to meddle.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sorta went overboard with that last scene didn't I...?
> 
> I feel like I'm building up a reputation for mood whiplash. Most of my work features multiple perspectives and the tone can shift dramatically when changing focus characters.
> 
> Kazari Kannagi was only a mildly important character in season 2. For the most part, she's like Shinka in that she likes to meddle in people's relationships, though she's a lot less aggressive with her meddling. That being said, everyone aware of Shinka's situation is pushing her towards Sanae. It may or may not be a bad thing that they're doing that. Either way, the day of reckoning is fast approaching. As was discussed, whatever she chooses will have consequences.
> 
> The thought of Satone being a yuri enthusiast is just an idea of mine. Nothing in the show points towards such a trait. Rather, the promo art of her touching noses with Rikka is what made me want to write her that way. Aside from Yuuta, the only people Satone has touched noses with are Kuzuha, Rikka, and Shinka. That may just be because of the low number of male characters in the show but she's mostly been touchy-feely with girls.
> 
> The argument between Yuuta and Rikka sort of just... happened... I never meant for them to get into an argument but it suddenly struck me that Satone showing Yuuta lewd pictures of girls would not sit well with Rikka. So... Yeah...
> 
> In any case, that was a chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next one.


	10. Peeking Through the Veil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'm back. Hello everyone. I bring you a new chapter.
> 
> Things are kept unsaid for a reason - whether they're acceptable is not up for debate. Those seeking to look past the veil will not care.
> 
> Enjoy if you can - else, I apologize.

 

**CHUUNIBYOU**

In what seemed to be a pleasant coincidence, the members of the Far Eastern Magic Napping Society had arrived at the entrance of their club room at basically the same time. When Shinka turned the corner from the stairs, she saw Sanae reaching for the door. They locked gazes for a second. Sanae then entered, leaving the door open. Shinka followed soon after, closing the door behind her.

Upon entering, she saw that Yuuta only just started setting the table over the magic circle while Rikka and Sanae conversed in their usual chuunibyou-speak by the window. With a shrug, Shinka set her bag next to the others' in the corner and sat in front of where the table would be placed.

"You know, a little help wouldn't hurt," Yuuta grumbled to her as he laid the table before her.

Shinka smirked. "You're right. I doubt that'd hurt much at all."

Yuuta sat himself across from Shinka, putting down a bowl and throwing a handful of sweets into it. "You know, for a person who puts way too much effort into everything she does, you're pretty lazy."

Shinka closed her eyes. "Priorities, Togashi. Everyone has them."

"Whatever you say, _Summer_."

Shinka gave Yuuta a threatening glare. "Togashi, if you don't want to be cursed with insomnia for the rest of the trimester, I suggest you never call me that again."

"I don't think that's how you channel Kumin's powers." Yuuta shook his head. "Besides, we only have a few weeks to go before break starts"

Shinka scowled in annoyance. "You'd be surprised how badly a few weeks without sleep could destroy you."

In all honesty, part of her was grateful. The verbal fencing between herself and Yuuta may have been a pain considering how he knew how to needle her without making her lose her temper but it was also quite fun. Yuuta was stubborn, but not unbending, so he proved to be a conquerable challenge. After her conversation with Kazari earlier that morning, she deserved the stress-relief of talking to him.

"You're in a way better mood now," Yuuta commented. "Something good happen?"

Shinka tilted her head left and right as she thought. "No. The opposite, actually. Something _bad_ happened." She shrugged. "I guess I just stopped worrying about it. Nothing I can do about it anyway, you know?"

"That doesn't sound like you at all." Yuuta picked up a piece of candy from the bowl and popped it into his mouth, putting the wrapper in his pocket. "You normally make a bigger deal of things. This seems out of character."

"If you think _that's_ out of character for me then you must really not know me." Shinka began digging through the bowl for her favorite brand of chewable mints. "You didn't even get the candy I like," she added in ever growing annoyance. "We've been friends for, what, three years? I'm honestly very disappointed in you Yuuta. You should be more observant."

Yuuta scratched the back of his head, looking away. "Well, _sorry_. It's a little hard to be observant of you when my girlfriend gets jealous if I stare at other girls for too long," he growled. "And I _did_ buy those mints. _Find them_."

"So you did," Shinka said, picking her desired candy from the pile and immediately unwrapping and chewing it. She then let out a small giggle. "So she gets jealous? I bet she's cute when she gets like that."

Yuuta smiled wryly, clutching his chest. "Like you wouldn't believe..."

"Calm down, lover-boy. I don't want another one of us to faint within a week of each other."

"By the way, master. What were you and the Dark Flame Master arguing about earlier?" Sanae's voice broke both Shinka's and Yuuta's concentration, forcing them to turn to the blonde. "I came to the club during lunch and you were arguing. I could hear you through the door."

Rikka and Yuuta stiffened.

Alarm bells immediately began to ring in Shinka's mind. The slight blush, awkward smiles, and sudden refusal to make eye contact told her that neither of the two wanted their argument to be known by anyone. That being said, the spark of interest within Shinka ignited the fires of determination. She shot Yuuta a narrow gaze, now dead set on figuring out what it was they were hiding.

Yuuta noticed Shinka's intense stare and frowned. "Oh boy, I know what _that_ look means…"

From across the room, Sanae flared her arms and pointed at Yuuta. "Speak, Dark Flame Master! Quench our burning curiosity!"

"Why just me? Ask Rikka too!"

"Schwartz Shield!" Rikka opened her folding umbrella and ducked into the corner. "I wish you the best of luck, Yuuta."

Sanae then threw herself in front of Rikka, arms outstretched. "You shall not pass!" She exclaimed. "My master has deemed this to be your responsibility. Do not push it back onto her."

Yuuta stood. " _Really_? And you think I'm just going to comply?"

"If you wish to have her, you'll have to fight me!"

Yuuta frowned and said defiantly, "Well maybe I'll take you up on that."

Shinka sighed. "Togashi, _please_ don't start this now." When it looked like her words weren't reaching him, she rolled her eyes and scooted to the wall, pulling the table with her. "Don't break anything."

Sanae took hold of her twin tails and began twirling them. "Reality rejected."

Yuuta lowered his head and pressed his hand over his face. "Synapses shattered."

The two took a step back and took a readied stance. "Banishment. From. This. WORLD!"

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Rikka and Shinka stood outside the faculty room, silently listening in on the two being scolded inside.

"Now, the penalty for deliberate property damage is a two-to-five day suspension and a fine equaling a fraction of the cost relative to the amount of damage - half the cost when the object is so damaged that it needs replacement. Obviously this wasn't deliberate so you'll only get a fine."

"We didn't mean to break the window. We were just playing and it kinda got caught in the crossfire..."

"You two should stop playing like that," the teacher said. "While it's fine that you want to enjoy your high school lives while you can, you would do well to keep from this sort of rough housing. You especially, Togshi - you're already a senior. Adulthood is right around the corner. Play fights like that will soon no longer be tolerated."

"We're sorry Miss Tsukumo."

"Water under the bridge. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. Next time, someone might get hurt. Now go. I'll call your parents this evening. They'll either hear it first from _you_ , or from _me_. You two decide which you prefer."

"Thank you Miss Tsukumo"

Shinka closed her eyes, mulling over the conversation she just heard. Yuuta getting in trouble for one of those play fights was not something she expected. Rikka and Sanae, maybe, but him? No, that just wasn't right...

"Well, _that's_ gonna be a problem," Yuuta muttered as he and Sanae exited the room.

Shinka shot them a stern look. "Did you two _really_ have to fight?"

Yuuta shot back with a tired frown. "Oh come on, you too?"

Shinka rolled her eyes. "I _did_ say not to break anything. That's what you get for not following orders." She removed an extra bag from her shoulders and handed it to Yuuta. "We were asked to vacate the club room. Rikka and I took care of your bags but the rest of your stuff in the room is... well, still in there."

"Thanks," he said, accepting the bag. He turned to the others. "So... what, do we just go home?"

Shinka shrugged. "Looks like it."

Thus, the four of them began their walk to the station, a tranquil yet melancholic lack of conversation accompanying the sound of their footsteps. Frankly, it was a little disappointing. The past week had been filled with ups and downs that Shinka kind of just wanted it to stop. With that abrupt end to their club meeting that day, she got what she wanted in a way. The only problem would be that she _did not_ _like_ what she had been given. She supposed that her current situation was an example of the saying: _"Be careful what you wish for."_

Shinka increased her pace to walk next to Yuuta. She spoke quietly, not looking at the boy. "Tell me, what _was_ your arguing about?"

There was a short pause before Yuuta replied, as if he was debating on the answer. "You know about Shichimiya's little... uh... _hobby_...?"

With that single question, Shinka immediately dawned on the answer to her own question. Honestly? She was not surprised in the slightest. _Of course_ Satone Shichimiya was the reason those two were arguing. She had a knack for arriving at the most inopportune moments, causing chaos in the most accidental ways.

"Takanashi found out, didn't she?" Shinka said in a scolding tone. Yuuta let out a small laugh that was so obviously fake that it had to be deliberate. Shinka growled impatiently. "Well, _did_ she?"

"Found out? Shichimiya _showed her a picture_."

To that, Shinka went wide eyed and turned to the boy. _"What?"_ she hissed.

"I'm lucky it was one of the tamer ones, else Rikka might have _really_ gotten angry." Yuuta then gave Shinka a pleading gaze. "Could you explain this to Dekomori for me?"

Shinka shot him a glare.

" _Come on_. Rikka and I came up with something so it isn't a problem anymore. But if I tell Dekomori, she's gonna _make_ it problem." He paused for dramatic effect. Shinka had to admit, he was right, though she wouldn't add fuel to _that_ fire.

"Besides, it's better that _you_ tell her. She trusts you more."

Shinka turned away. "No she doesn't," she said flatly.

" _Yes she does_ ," Yuuta insisted. He clasped his hands together in a gesture of prayer. " _Please_. I'll owe you. _Tell her_."

Shinka eyed him with mixed feelings of disgust, pity, and the mildest of admiration. It took some guts to ask someone to do what he was asking Shinka to do. She could respect that, if begrudgingly. " _Fine_ ," she growled. She then added, "If this goes awry, I will curse you with endless misfortune. Even in death, _you will remain marked_."

"Nibutani, you're relapsing."

"Shut up, Dork-Lame Master" she snapped, walking ahead.

After an awkward pause, Yuuta replied. "It's _Dark Flame_ , you know?"

Shinka afforded herself a small smile of triumph. For that particular match of Verbal Fencing, she had won.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

After both Rikka and Yuuta got off the train, Sanae sat herself next to Shinka, who was staring quietly out the window, watching a world nothings and everythings flit by in an ever steady stream. Sanae had noticed Shinka's strange behavior. Ever since that day where they tied their fates together, the former magician had been distant.

The two had made an agreement. They would both find out why the subject of the late Mori Summer was so important to both of them. In the four days since then, Sanae really couldn't tell if they made any headway. Aside from not overly bothering each other, neither Shinka nor Sanae had made any moves. In fact, Shinka seemed downright unwilling to progress forward, not bothering to talk to Sanae at all. So what, then, was the point of their pact?

As Sanae mulled over the intricacies and fallacies of her contract with Shinka, a voice broke her concentration. Sanae turned to the older girl next to her.

"You know, technically I could get off on the same station as Yuuta and Rikka," Shinka muttered. "My house is pretty much an equal distance from their stop and mine."

Sanae felt the need to question the relevance of such information, but then a thought occurred to her - a spark of curiosity, if you would. "You do not wish to walk with them?"

Shinka nodded slowly. "For a while, I just wanted to give them their space. They're a couple, you know? Having another girl follow them around might make things awkward." Sanae very much doubted that assumption - especially considering the fact that Satone Shichimiya, an established rival of Rikka's, lived right above their apartment. However, she did not voice that opinion and let Shinka continue talking. "Of course, nowadays, I don't join them purely out of habit. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get over the kinds of habits you force yourself into."

Sanae could only stare, mildly vexed at her senpai's poor choice of words. "Actually, I might have some knowledge about that subject," she grumbled, turning away.

Shinka blinked in realization. "Huh. Now that you mention it, you haven't really been calling me Fake Mori Summer anymore."

"That was our agreement, was it not?" Sanae asked in as innocent a voice as she could muster. "One of many..."

Shinka paused, keeping a skeptical eye on the blonde kohai. She _had_ to have picked up on the passive-aggressive tone - Sanae was sure of it. If anyone in their circle of friends could read the mood, it had to be her. That being said, whether she'd comment on it would be a completely different story. It was a question of how willing she was to address the matter on her commute home. She had one station left after all. Sanae could only wait and see.

A tense two seconds of relative silence passed between them, seeming to last an eternity before Shinka spoke. "Yeah. It was..."

A part of Sanae felt just a little bit outraged that the older girl merely acknowledged that it was their agreement. She had the audacity to do such a thing!? It was downright insulting considering how Shinka could obviously tell what Sanae was insinuating with those words. And yet, at the same time, Sanae wasn't surprised. Another part of her knew that would be the outcome. Perhaps Shinka liked how things were - how neither of them were really interacting anymore - how their brief conversations were nothing more than idle chatter - how the only significant exchanges they shared were their infrequent saying of each other's first names. Sanae wouldn't hesitate to admit that she, too, enjoyed their current relationship somewhat. But after everything that's happened over the past three years, it was a major step back. Staying as they were was not something Sanae would be satisfied with.

There was an indeterminate amount of time since Shinka last spoke - Sanae wasn't counting the seconds and she'd have lost track in her reflections even if she was. All she knew for sure was that there was a long moment of silence as she mused, only to be broken by one phrase.

"Thank you."

What Shinka just said, her softly spoken thanks, held a weight that Sanae found notable. She stared quizzically at the older girl next to her.

"Why?"

Shinka regarded her as though she said something foolish. "What do you mean _'why'_? For the past few days, you've been calling me my real name..." Shinka then smiled. "Thanks for that..."

Sanae felt a mild feeling of guilt upon seeing Shinka's bittersweet expression. Did the older girl really feel that strongly about her name? Was hearing it _that_ important to her? That smile. It hurt so much to look at it - a painful reminder that Mori Summer, to whom she devoted years of her life to, was gone. Yet she wanted so badly to see it again. She wanted nothing more than to speak Shinka's name and make her senpai the happiest girl alive.

Sanae blinked.

What was she thinking just then? A wish for someone's happiness? A smile that sent her heart aflutter? Those were traits she recognized - described by the Mabinogian as symptoms of... of...

"Love," Sanae breathed in wide eyed realization.

Shinka seemed aware of her epiphany and looked just about ready to bolt in panic. The moment passed, however, and she took a deep breath. She then grabbed tightly on Sanae's shoulder and leaned towards her.

"Sanae. You know what our agreement was, right? I'm gonna have to ask you to get off at my stop with me because we need to talk... Somewhere private..."

There was a certain sense of desperation in her voice - similar to when she demanded that Sanae get rid of her printed copies of the Mabinogian but more intense. Sanae was inclined to agree. After reaching the conclusion she made, who better to talk to about it than the very subject of her apparent affection?

Sanae nodded and Shinka relaxed somewhat. She released her hold on the younger girl's shoulders and let her hand fall limply on the seat.

In that moment, Sanae got the feeling that it would be a very _very_ long wait to Shinka's house, regardless of how fast the commute really was. As the Mabinogion said, love and other such strong emotions had the quite noticeable effect of time dilation to those afflicted by it. She braced herself for the long haul.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the show itself, this chapter is split into two parts. The first part is where I indulge myself in writing arguably dull conversations between characters I like. The second part is where everything is a lot more contemplative and emotional. As I said in the previous chapter's end notes, mood whiplash is becoming a regular thing for this fic. That being said, I might as well go all out.
> 
> The Shinka-Yuuta dynamic is probably the most explored relationship in this fic. The way I see it, Shinka is basically Yuuta, except way more aggressive and assertive. Of course, that's an oversimplification, but it makes my point. I like their dynamic. The wry back-and-forths they have are entertaining to write and fleshes out their relationship as more than just "Shinka talks at Yuuta about his relationship with Rikka."
> 
> In the recent chapters of this fic - and my other fics - I've been experimenting with a writing style that doesn't heavily rely on inner-monologues. I still use them, but this is the first chapter that has absolutely none - first chapter I noticed having none at the very least. That being said, Sanae's scene at the end of this chapter is what I'd consider one of my most successful attempts at writing that style.
> 
> When I wrote it, I was going for a confused yet detached tone, similar to how Sanae was feeling at that moment. Whether I managed to write it that way, I'll leave for you, my readers, to decide. Either way, it was an interesting scene to write and I don't regret writing it.
> 
> Finally, we have the biggest thing about this chapter, some development in terms of Shinka and Sanae's romance. Because of how nothing was happening between the two of them, Sanae ended up jumping ahead of Shinka and figuring things out for herself - obviously Shinka wasn't gonna tell her any time soon. Do not be fooled, that was not deliberate. Using the snail's pace of the chapters preceding this one as a point of progression was a stroke of genius but I didn't plan it that way.
> 
> Speaking of plans, assuming I don't have another stretch of chapters with barely any plot or a sudden influx of new ideas I want to cram into this story, Compensation should finish somewhere between 24 and 26 chapters. It is an estimated guess, I make no promises.
> 
> In any case, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll end this note here. Until next chapter.


	11. Reaching Compromises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, guys. The chapter you've been waiting for. Enjoy if you can - if you can't, I apologize

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"Love"

Shinka knew the cat was out of the bag the moment she heard that word escape from Sanae's mouth. It was all she needed to know that Sanae knew as well.

The girl knew. Sanae Dekomori knew. Through all the facades and delusions, she figured it out - the answer to burning questions that had been the crux of their so called _pact_. Why did she cling so desperately to the idea of Mori Summer? Why did she insist on calling Shinka Fake? Why did Shinka care enough to ask? Why?

Why? Why? Why...?

Everything - the questions, the arguments, the delusions - all of them could be answered with that one word she spoke. It was amazing...

And terrifying...

The very thought terrified Shinka in ways she could never have predicted.

Shinka had no intention of telling Sanae. Letting the chuuni figure it out on her own? Who was she kidding? That was a lie - a trick - an illusion she cast on herself that she nearly believed. If only it were true then she probably wouldn't feel so terrible. No, she did not want Sanae to know. She didn't want her to figure it out - never in this life time or any other. It was a secret she would have kept to her grave.

But now, Sanae knew. Now, Sanae had the key to all the doors. Which one would she open? Where would it lead...?

And so, Shinka sat across the table from her, enduring the suffocating weight of the air within her own room. Every second ticked by in endless agony as a chorus of deafening silence screamed in her ears.

Shinka leaned forward and interlocked her fingers in front of her face, a steely eyed mask hiding the nervous energy that trembled through her limbs. She opened her mouth to speak but could only manage a shaky breath. How was she supposed to talk if she was a twitchy mess?

"Are you okay...?"

Shinka flinched when Sanae suddenly spoke. She could see the look of worry on the chuuni's face.

"You look like you're about to pass out..."

Shinka forced a slow deep breath. "I'm... fine..." Sanae looked unconvinced but didn't argue.

Sanae's voice was small when she next spoke. "Remember our pact? I deciphered a secret within me..." Shinka nodded slowly. "The answer came in a way I never expected. It was... it was you're smile that did it..."

Shinka bit her lip. She knew what she just heard was the beginning of a heartfelt speech - one she didn't want to hear. She wanted so badly to scream at Sanae to shut up but couldn't do it.

So she said nothing. She did nothing and let Sanae continue speaking.

"I don't know. Back at the train, you were being unbearably silent. For the past few days, you were like that even. It was like you were at the bottom of an unfathomably deep lake. My words couldn't reach you... _I_ couldn't reach you..." Sanae shook her head. "It was frustrating. We spent the better part of three years at each other's throats and a simple speaking of a few words was enough to reduce our relationship to little more than strangers who spoke each other's names. It got me thinking, ' _what am I to you?_ ' and ' _what are you to me?_ ' My answers to those questions were things I couldn't be satisfied with... because I didn't really know...

"But then..."

Sanae smiled a little. It was just small twitch of the edge of her lips but Shinka saw it.

"Then you said thank you. You said thank you and showed me a smile that made my heart skip a beat. I wanted to see it again. I wanted to look at it forever. I felt in my heart of hearts that it was the most precious treasure in all the realms of every universe. And in that moment, the veil was cast off and for the first time I looked at you with clarity."

Sanae let out a chuckle.

"You know, I've been thinking... All this time, I've been calling you fake. All this time, I've done everything in my power to see you, not as you are, but as you were. I clung to the old you in the hopes that you'd return to your old ways. You rebelled against that notion, retaliating with all the forces at your disposal. You would not bend and neither would I. It became a game - a competition to see who would break first. Somewhere between then and now it stopped being a game - merely a habit.

"I knew Mori Summer was gone. I knew you were never turning back. And most of all, I knew you were you. All of that, deep down, I knew. But I just wouldn't accept it...

"Now... I have a reason to accept... I have a reason to _want_ to accept..."

Shinka closed her eyes and lowered her head. She didn't want to hear it. Something inside her was on the verge of breaking and the moment Sanae said those words, it'd shatter into a million pieces. She didn't want to hear it. She had to make it stop. She had to make it stop!

"I love you."

Sanae's voice died in her mouth. She was not able to say it after all... because Shinka had said it for her...

"That was what you were going to say, right...?"

"How did you-"

"How did I know?" Shinka chuckled. "I knew for a while now actually."

Shinka unclasped her hands and raised them forward. Sanae watched with timid fascination how the older girl's arms trembled ever so slightly. Shinka smiled wryly. "I'm a nervous wreck right now, Sanae. All because I knew what you were going to say."

Shinka pulled back her arms and hugged herself, laying her head on the table. Shinka could not see how Sanae reacted but she heard a low whimper from the chuuni.

"I'm sorry," Sanae said. "I should have just gone ahead and said it instead of giving a speech, huh?"

Shinka pursed her lips. "Maybe," she replied. "It sounded like you practiced it, though."

Sanae chuckled. "I guess you can say I had some time to prepare..."

There was a pause before Sanae spoke again. "What do you have to say, Shinka?"

"What _can_ I say? Honestly, the thought of us dating is so scary that I never really thought about it - even less so when I found out you loved me. I didn't want to hear you say it because hearing it would make me have to think about it..."

"You don't have an answer for me yet," Sanae concluded with a twinge of disappointment.

"... Maybe..."

Sanae chuckled. "It's alright. You may have been aware of this burning emotion inside me but you probably thought it wouldn't have amounted to anything. You probably thought I would never discover it and it would merely fade into an obscure memory that I'd never be able to make sense of."

"... Yeah..."

Sanae laughed bitterly. "That's just like you, Shinka - always underestimating me. Do you not know I am the wielder of the Mjolnir Hammer? The most devoted servant of the late Mori Summer?" Her laughter turned to a cackle. "Of course I'd feel the presence of love within me. It's only natural.

"And of course I'd understand why you wouldn't love me back..."

And from a cackle... it turned into sobs...

"I'm sorry for all the mocking. I'm sorry for the physical abuse. I'm sorry for the constant annoyance. I'm sorry, okay!? I'm sorry..."

Shinka forced herself to keep her head down. She couldn't bear the idea of Sanae crying. Even less so could she bear the sight of it. It broke her heart...

It broke... her heart...

Something inside Shinka snapped. If it broke her heart hearing Sanae cry then why didn't she stop it? She herself was in love with the chuuni. Why was she causing her so much grief?

In the past, she had described love to be an emotion so overwhelmingly powerful that it transcended logic and reason. It was capable of amazing things that few in the world could match. What, then, was the reason for her to hold back? Fear? Fear of what?

What her friends thought? What her classmates thought? What her parents thought? What the world thought? Sanae was a chuunibyou - she didn't care! And Shinka herself... she didn't really care either - not enough for it to matter.

Failure and loss? The loss of love would be terrible, yes, and should they fail, the heartbreak could destroy them. But it wouldn't be the end of the world. Sanae could live with it. And Shinka could live with it too.

Her broken pride? Every single person she spoke with had implicitly told her that her pride didn't matter. Deep down, she knew it didn't matter either. It was just a stupid excuse she used to justify her argument - weightless in the maelstrom of emotions she was feeling.

What was it that she was so afraid of? What was the reason she was so resistant to the idea of dating Sanae? Quite frankly, it no longer made sense. The two of them loved each other and neither of them were unwilling. The natural thing to do was to be together. Why the hell not!?

Shinka raised herself from the table and rushed forward, pulling Sanae into a hug. "It's fine, Sanae... It's fine..."

"I'm... sorry..."

Shinka hugged even tighter. She could feel Sanae's tears soak into her shirt. "I know... It's fine... I forgive you..."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

The call that took Yuuta away from the dinner table that evening was not unexpected per-se. Shinka Nibutani was one he exchanged calls with frequently - sometimes on a daily basis based on how nosy the club's resident busybody was being. However, the topic of the call that evening came as a surprise. In fact, it was so far out of left field that he'd have needed some sort of sixth sense to see it coming.

"You're what!?" Yuuta shouted from the balcony.

" _What's right, we're dating now,_ " Shinka said a matter-of-fact-ly. " _We'll make the official announcement tomorrow morning._ "

Yuuta scratched his head. "You know, now that I think about it, I really shouldn't be as surprised as I am. The signs were there. I just never pieced it together."

There was static on the other line - Shinka snorted. " _I'll say. As a friend once told me, you're too wrapped up in your own fantasy to notice another one blossoming in front of you._ "

"My own fantasy," Yuuta repeated. He regarded the statement with thought before smiling. "I think I know who that friend was..."

Shinka chuckled. " _If you see her, give her a message. Tell her that her she achieved results. She'll know what it means._ "

"That, I'll do. Will that be all?"

A pause came before Shinka replied. " _I guess that's all. That's for listening._ "

"No problem. See you tomorrow, lover-girl." Yuuta smirked

" _Haha, very funny,_ " Shinka deadpanned. " _See you tomorrow, Togashi._ "

Yuuta flipped his phone closed and sighed. Images flashed before his eyes as he imagined Shinka and Sanae being together. All things considered, they were a cute couple. With the shake of his head and a chuckle, he re-entered his apartment.

"I see you have returned from conspiring with your secret contact!" Rikka exclaimed from her seat on the table.

Yuuta rolled his eyes and pulled up his own seat across from her. "I told you, it was Nibutani. Now shut up and finish eating. We still need to talk to Shichimiya later."

Rikka grumbled about him being mean but still ate.

Across the room in the kitchen area, Kuzuha asked off handedly, "What did you talk about?"

"Oh? It was nothing just..." Yuuta glanced at Rikka who was watching carefully. He'd have to choose his words, it seemed. "Just a warning for something that'll happen tomorrow," he ended up saying.

Rikka stopped, fork raised halfway towards her face. She frowned. "Is it something about the club?"

"Something like that," Yuuta said with a mix between a smile and wince. He technically wasn't lying but he had a bad feeling that Rikka had misinterpreted his words being about something truly terrible like their club disbanding. That they technically had property damage in their record now didn't exactly help.

Again, Kuzuha spoke from across the room. "Is it something bad?"

"Not necessarily," Yuuta answered, hoping that it was a good enough answer to keep Rikka from worrying. Said girl seemed to have lost her appetite entirely as was merely staring at her food.

Yuuta frowned.

"Hey," Yuuta said reaching across the table to lay his hand over Rikka's. "Don't worry about it. Whatever it is you're thinking, it's probably not it. Personally, I think the news is good."

Rikka pursed her lips. "Is it... about that topic we are about to discuss with Sophia...?"

Yuuta blinked before awkwardly looking away. "Uh... what gives you... Well... You _could_ say that, but..." He scratched his head, unable to respond more eloquently.

Rikka seemed to settle down. She released a slow silent breath and smiled. "If that is the case then you are absolutely right, Yuuta. It is good news indeed."

Kuzuha watched the two with mild confusion due to her lack of context. However, she didn't ask any more questions and merely shrugged. "In any case, Rikka, hurry up. I can't finish washing the dishes without yours."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"Your talk with the Dark Flame Master fared well, my... my love?"

Shinka re-entered the kitchen with an attempt at an unamused frown on her face. "Are you _really_ going to keep that up?" she asked the red-faced chuuni sitting at the table.

Sanae smiled, shaking. "O-of course! As your lo... lo..." her voice faltered. " _As your lover_ ," she managed, "casual displays of affection serve as a way of reinforcing my... my feelings for you."

Shinka sat down and crossed her arms. Her expression softened. "It's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but you are being way too awkward. Just do what feels natural."

Sanae shook her head, hugging herself. "I don't know what feels natural anymore. Right now, even the mere act of saying your name is sending my heart racing."

Shinka made a token effort to suppress her smile. "That's just because everything's still new to you. Let it settle down for a few days before you force yourself to do something different."

Sanae shook her head once more. "I can't! Not right now...!"

Shinka nodded slowly as an idea hatched in her head. She smirked. "Well, if you don't want to calm down, perhaps I can bring your high even higher?"

Sanae blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Shinka leaned forward, bringing her face mere inches from Sanae's.

Sanae immediately leaned back. "W-what are you...!?"

"Sanae..." Shinka stood from her seat and leaned even farther forward, maintaining her distance from Sanae. "Is your heart pounding right now...?"

Sanae leaned further back. "Yes! Yes it is! Please sto-aahh!"

Sanae had nearly fallen backwards. Only Shinka's hands on her shoulders kept it from happening. The younger girl's eyes were wide with fear and excitement as their gazes met. For a long time, only the sound was that of Sanae's heavy breathing over the monotonous drone of the microwave.

"How do you feel," Shinka asked, all too aware of how awkward she made their situation.

Sanae's deep breaths continued. "I... I feel light headed..." she managed. "My heart... is bursting at the seams... from so much power... Any more of this... and I may... undergo... a catastrophic meltdown... that may level a small town..."

"If you want me to stop, I will. Just tell me."

"No!" Sanae gasped. "I mean yes! No...! I...!" She closed her eyes tight. "If you're going to kiss me, please do it now! I'm begging you!"

Shinka pulled Sanae towards her. She closed her eyes as well.

Shinka wasn't sure what manner of evil spirit possessed her to do what she did. Dinner was still in the microwave, the mood was completely wrong, and Sanae was obviously not ready for a deliberate kiss yet. Everything about the situation practically screamed " _bad idea_ " to her.

And yet she was doing it anyway.

"How do you feel?" Shinka asked once more, pulling away.

Sanae slumped forward in limp unconsciousness.

" _Great_." Shinka sighed. "So much for having dinner with her," she muttered.

She touched her lips and smiled.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

"I don't know, wouldn't that be kinda awkward?" Satone asked, fidgeting.

"How is it any more awkward than you showing them to just me?" Yuuta argued.

"I will not bend on this matter, Sophia. Either you accept the offer or stop showing them to him entirely!" Rikka exclaimed.

"But showing pictures to both of you - _at the same time_?" Satone blushed, palming her cheeks. "Even _I_ get embarrassed just thinking about it..."

"My will is iron, my resolve is steel, and my terms are set in stone! Take it or leave it, Magical Devil Girl!"

"Just to clarify... If I want to show them to Hero, you must be there. I'll accept that. However, if I want to show them to you, can I show it to _just_ you or must Hero be there as well?"

Yuuta massaged his temples. "This is going better than I expected but way worse than I hoped..."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well well well, this took me a long time to write.
> 
> The first part with Sanae's confession of love took me the longest. For maybe a week, I was writing it to be from Sanae's perspective but I scrapped it. The person with the problem in their relationship wasn't Sanae but Shinka. The ex-chuuni was the one who didn't want it so it would make more sense to write it from her perspective. Besides, she is the main main character.'
> 
> The jump of perspective from Sanae to Shinka caused some other problems, though. For one, a whole host of descriptions had to be rewritten on account of Shinka's more negative emotional state compared to Sanae. For another, her internal arguments with herself were incredibly difficult to write. I've written Shinka Nibutani as a girl so naturally paradoxical that she can be convincing herself that she did and did not want to date someone in the same chapter.
> 
> Then later in the chapter, with their kiss scene, I decided to make it a joke rather than some emotional climax. Frankly, this chapter already had an emotional climax and the kiss was just my way to bring everything down a notch.
> 
> But Shinka was being blatantly out of character there, you say? Yes she was.
> 
> I have little to say about Yuuta's dinner scene. I've made comments about Shinka and Yuuta's relationship being more explored in this fic than most and this is one example of that. It says a lot that Shinka immediately went and told him that she and Sanae were dating. The other parts with Rikka and Kuzuha are just conversation fluff and a slight build-up to a joke at the very end.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a pain to write but I had fun doing so. Until the next one.


	12. A Proclamation of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have reached the halfway point, everyone. Rejoice for Shinka and Sanae are finally together! Enjoy if you can - otherwise, I apologize.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Late that night, Shinka's mother arrived home from work. When she checked in on her daughter, she found Shinka sitting at her table studying while another girl slept in her bed. Following after that was a long and tiring argument - one that had to be moved to the living room - about Shinka's unannounced sleep-over guest. The conversation dragged for far too long and many unrelated topics were brought up, much to Shinka's displeasure. By the end, it was well past midnight and all the two had left to say was sorry and good night. Neither did so and they both went to bed unhappy.

It was hard for Shinka to say things to her mother - especially when she arrived home from work. She was always cranky and unreasonable. After living with the woman for eighteen years, that much was already clear. That was why Shinka didn't exactly resent her mother for whatever happened that night. They'd make up by the weekend when they could talk without needing to fight exhaustion.

But Shinka would be lying if she said it didn't upset her.

Of course, she didn't let it bother her too much. When she awoke to Sanae's cute sleeping face, it was hard for her _not_ to feel better. Then again, she was still half-asleep when that happened.

When her mind finally grasped the situation woke up to, she quietly wondered to herself what exactly she should be feeling at that moment. Part of her wanted to just ignore the other girl sleeping on her bed and continue with her morning routine. Another part wanted to stay where she was and just watch, hoping that it'd last for eternity. Yet another part wanted to get a few more minutes of sleep as her argument with her mother had taken its toll. She was leaning more towards option A as it was the most productive thing for her to do.

Shinka pried her kohai's arms off of her waist and got up, saying in her best _'stern senpai'_ voice, "Wake up, Sanae. It's time for school." She realized after speaking that she sounded more like a mother than a senpai.

Sanae, of course, merely rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. Shinka paused for a moment to giggle at the sight before leaving the room and carrying on with her usual morning rituals.

A cold shower and a cup of tea later, Shinka returned to her room and once more attempted to rouse Sanae from her slumber. This time she succeeded.

"What time is it?" Sanae groaned as she groggily got up.

"A quarter to seven," Shinka said as she began to change into her uniform. "We still have plenty of time left before classes start but you should get ready. Breakfast's downstairs. I'll be down when I'm done here."

Sanae nodded and trudged towards the door. With her hand on the handle, she turned to Shinka with a curious tilt of her head. "You've look like you've lost weight."

Shinka frowned, once again reminded of something she chose not to think about. "I didn't have much of an appetite after the accident," she said. "And for your information, I'm well within the healthy weight range for my build, thank you very much. I'd appreciate it if you don't bring it up again."

Sanae merely shrugged. "It wasn't an insult." With that, she was out the door.

Shinka continued frowning as she stared at the door, listening to Sanae's muffled footsteps slowly fade out. Shinka's expression softened. "I guess it wasn't..."

As she began buttoning up her shirt, a quiet thought came to her.

It hadn't even been a day since they entered a romantic relationship and already they had hugged, kissed, and slept with each other. Sure, all of those points were kind of pointless - they were often wrapped in each other's arms because they were wrestling, they already kissed before though it was an accident, and that they slept together meant they _literally went to sleep_. Still, Shinka couldn't shake the feeling that they might be moving their relationship too quickly - rather, that _she_ was moving it too quickly.

Was she? She accepted Sanae's love. She had been possessed to kiss Sanae. She had even suggested, though jokingly, that Sanae sleep over - which the chuuni took seriously. She had every reason to believe that the answer to her question was an undisputable _'yes'_. Her only problem, however, was the question that came directly after.

_Why?_

She could honestly say that she didn't know, once again feeling that pang of frustration she felt whenever she came to that conclusion. Tasting something bitter in her mouth, Shinka zipped up her skirt and proceeded downstairs, leaving her vest, ribbon, and hairclip unworn. She could finish changing later. For now, she needed something to distract her from those stupid thoughts.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

A thought occurred to Yuuta that morning as he and Rikka walked to the station. "How exactly did you not know about lesbians when you met one last year?"

Rikka looked at him confusedly. "I know not what you speak of, Dark Flame."

Yuuta rolled his eyes. "The fake Mori Summer we met last year - the actual fake one, not Nibutani."

Rikka rubbed her chin in thought. "Not ringing any bells..."

"You know, the girl that was crushing hard on Dekomori? The one Nibutani had to fight against? You literally shouted _'I win'_ when the fake found out Deko and Nibutani kissed and ran away."

That piqued Rikka's interest. " _Did_ I win?"

Yuuta resisted the urge to facepalm and sighed. "Never mind..."

Their conversation had to be temporarily halted as their train was already pulling into the station when they stepped onto the platform. When they got on, they found that the train cars were crowded with students and office workers - far too awkward a situation to continue their current topic. The shelved it for the moment and waited for their stop in silence.

However, when they got off and began walking to school, the conversation quickly picked back up.

"After many moments of deliberations, I've come to that conclusion that Sophia is correct. Love between girls is lovely and precious."

Once again, Yuuta rolled his eyes. "That's just because Shichimiya showed you that manga about the girl who found love with the help of internet message boards."

"It's based on a true story, though."

"If you want a true story, just look at Dekomori and Nibutani. Those two are a rom-com story waiting to be written," Yuuta said with a chuckle. "I wonder though. Since the two of us know already, who exactly are they going to announce that they're dating to later?"

Rikka shrugged. "Perhaps they think it's a formality? Many couples view themselves as already married despite not being so and view a formal wedding as gratuitous."

Yuuta raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you hear that?"

"It was in one of those pamphlets they gave us at that health seminar we went to last spring. I assume their statistics are correct."

Yuuta managed a small smile. "You remember the weirdest things." He shook his head. "Anyway, keep walking. We're not that early that we can goof off and not be late."

Their conversation continued even as they kept walking to their classroom, going off on tangent after tangent. Only when they finally reached the school gate did their talking finally die down.

"Yo, Togashi!"

Shortly after reaching the shoe lockers, Yuuta turned around to find captain crew-cut himself running towards him. Yuuta waved in greeting. "Yo, Isshiki. Morning."

Makoto ended up tackling him to the ground. After offering a brief apology and helping him up, Makoto then pulled him in close and whispered, "Okay, two things." He pulled out his phone. "One, why did Nibutani send me this weird text? Two, who gave her my number?"

Yuuta raised an eyebrow, mildly annoyed at how his morning was going. "How do you know it's Nibutani who texted you if you didn't exchange phone numbers? Who gave _you_ her number?"

Makoto shook his head. "Not important. Why did she send it?" He presented his phone to Yuuta way too close to his face. "I'm freaking out, man! That girl's gotta be planning something."

Yuuta struggled to read the text, needing to grab hold of Makoto's trembling arm and hold it steady. "Come to the club room after class. I have something important to tell you," he read aloud. He sighed with relief upon realizing that Makoto was just overreacting. "I know what that is. You don't have to worry about Nibutani. She's not planning anything bad."

"It is benevolent," Rikka said in agreement, slinking in next to Yuuta so that she stood between him and Makoto.

"Although..." Yuuta crossed his arms and nodded thoughtfully, ignoring Rikka's blatant possessiveness. "I'm surprised she plans to tell _you_ of all people. I have a couple of guesses as to who would be there but you were definitely not on that list."

Makoto's expression turned to an offended scowl. "And why not?"

Yuuta shrugged. "I don't think she trusts you?" he said plainly. "Then again, she shows her true self around you so that must count for something." He scratched his head. "I don't know. You were only ever a big part of our lives back in our first year. After that, you kinda fell off."

Makoto pushed Rikka aside, took Yuuta by the shoulders, and began shaking him. "Seriously, man!? That's all our friendship is to you!?"

"Look, just do what the message says!" Yuuta snapped, flailing his arms around to get Makoto's hands off his shoulders. "If you want, we'll escort you ourselves. Now we gotta get going." Yuuta began to walk away, grabbing Rikka's hand and pulling her with him. "See you after class."

"Isshiki seems distressed," Rikka noted unnecessarily.

"So he is," Yuuta muttered, smiling wryly.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

After class, Yuuta felt mildly uncomfortable as he sat at the club room table.

To his immediate right sat Rikka, who was currently chatting with Kazari Kannagi and two other girls who he didn't know the name of - he felt mildly embarrassed that he didn't know as he recalled being in the same class as them for over two years. To his left sat Makoto who was twiddling his thumbs, obviously worried. Finally, there was a second year girl who sat at the corner, away from the table.

Yuuta felt a hand grasp his shoulder. "Hey, uh, Togashi," Makoto whispered, leaning in close. "Not that I'm complaining about being surrounded by girls, but who are these people?"

"Nibutani's friends."

Makoto glanced away. "Even her?"

Yuuta followed Makoto's gaze to the second year. Yuuta thought for a bit. "Hmm... She's probably Deko's friend."

"Dekomori, huh?" Makoto blinked. "Wait, Nibutani and Dekomori..." He went wide-eyed. "They're dating now, aren't they?"

Yuuta raised an eyebrow. Considering that Nibutani and Dekomori arranged their little gathering for the specific purpose of telling their friends they were dating, there was no way Yuuta would tell Makoto about it himself. He dodged the question. "You came to that conclusion awfully fast."

Makoto grinned, as if realizing his evasive maneuver. "I'd bet a thousand yen that they're dating now and they called all of us together so they could tell us in person."

Yuuta continued dodging the question. "Didn't your parents ever tell you that gambling's bad?"

"Only when there's a lot to lose, my friend." Though his grin remained, Makoto had relented. "I'm happy for them, all things considered."

"So you are."

Their conversation ended abruptly as the door to the Far Eastern Magic Napping Society slammed open.

"Nyahahaha! It is I, Sophia Ring SP Saturn VII! Good day to you all!" Satone Shichimiya greeted with all the dramatic flair that was expected of her. She looked specifically to Yuuta and grinned. "Hello, Hero and Eye of the Wicked Lord."

Yuuta facepalmed while the girls from his class stared in confusion. The only people who didn't seem fazed at all was Makoto who gave a lazy salute, the second year girl who bowed slightly, and Rikka who replied with, "Greetings, Magical Devil Girl."

"Just get in here, Shichimiya," Yuuta groaned.

"Nyahahaha!"

Satone sat herself next to Yuuta, pushing Makoto aside. "Tell me, Hero. When shall Mjolnir Hammer and Mori Summer arrive?"

"What am I chopped liver?" Makoto asked, crying false tears.

Yuuta removed his hand from his face and sighed. "Now that you're here, they should arrive at any moment now," Yuuta replied, ignoring Makoto's drama. "And by the way..." He then delivered a sharp chop to Satone's forehead. "Nibutani told me to do that if you called her Mori Summer behind her back."

Satone smiled wryly, rubbing the spot Yuuta hit. "It seems that Mori Summer weaved a spell that would cause intense pain to all who utter her name." Yuuta delivered another chop. "Nya! Alright, alright, I'll stop! Jeez!"

Yuuta stiffened as he heard one of the girls behind him ask, "Is he always like that - even with you, Takanashi?"

"This is a special case since Nibutani asked him to do that," Rikka said. "Otherwise, he will only react that way if I do something grievously foolish."

"Really? Like what?"

"I... I cannot disclose that information."

Yuuta grinned and turned to face the girls. "One time, she used up all her allowance for the month to buy night vision goggles. She planned to eat cup ramen noodles until she got her next month's allowance."

The girls giggled. "Oh my gosh, Takanashi, that's so irresponsible."

Rikka turned to him and pouted. "Yuuuutaa!"

"Calm down, you two. You can get all lovey-dovey later."

Yuuta turned around to find Shinka by the door, leaning on the doorframe. She watched him, looking mildly unamused for a moment before a smirk found its way on her face.

Yuuta frowned at her change in expression. "What is it?"

Shinka shook her head. "Nothing," she said as she walked across the room, taking a seat by the window.

"Where's-"

Before Yuuta could ask, Shinka answered. "Sanae's still picking up our last guest. She'll arrive soon. We can start after that."

Sufficiently shut up, Yuuta continued waiting.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka swallowed the scream that was slowly building up inside of her. Under the nice and friendly exterior that she was currently showing her friends, she was, in fact, a bundle of a knotted tension just about ready to tear herself apart. She was both scared and amazed at herself by how she was still able to hold a conversation with someone despite how nervous she felt.

Now that she thought about it, she felt similar to how she felt just the day before. The only difference was how the lighter atmosphere in the club room with all her friends compared to her bedroom alone with Sanae helped her mask her feelings more easily. Still, she hoped that experiencing monumental anxiety wouldn't become a regular thing for her.

A loud voice of someone mimicking the sound of a trumpet came muffled from the hallway. With it was the sound of marching footsteps steadily approaching. Shinka visibly stiffened upon hearing that. Sanae had arrived.

Sanae slammed the door open. "Greetings, friends! The wielder of the Mjolnir Hammer, Sanae Dekomori is here!" She posed dramatically.

Shinka facepalmed as her friends stared confusedly. Yuuta shot her a pained smile - _I know how you feel,_ his look said. Next to her, Kazari leaned in and whispered with a smile, "Oh don't be embarrassed. Her penchant for the dramatic is something you admire, isn't it?"

Shinka removed her hand from her face gave Kazari a sidelong glance. "Yeah. Admire is the right word," she muttered dryly. Kazari merely giggled in response.

By the door, Sanae seemed to notice something amiss. She turned towards the hallway. "Please make haste. My comrades have been awaiting our arrival."

The next person who entered into view was someone who surprised everyone - not just Shinka's non-chunni friends.

A girl with short dark hair wearing a white summer dress walked through the door, bowing in greeting. "Hello there. I'm Kumin Tsuyuri. I used to be a member of this club," she said. After which, she revealed a pillow she was hiding behind her back and proceeded to the table. She plopped herself down next to Makoto, hugged the pillow, leaned over the table, and went to sleep.

"I'm surprised you're not screaming," Yuuta said to Makoto.

"Don't get me wrong, I didn't expect her to show up or anything, but I'm not surprised she's here."

"No, not about that. She's right next to you."

Makoto shrugged. "She does this all the time. I got used to it."

"Wait, what? How did you get used-"

"Seriously, man, I'm a little hurt that you don't remember. We started dating last march, right before she graduated."

Yuuta gasped. "Wait, you did!?"

"Why are you so surprised!? Did you make any effort to remember at all!?"

While everyone was still focused on the fuss over Kumin and Makoto, Sanae knelt in front of Shinka. "Does your will remain unbroken?"

Shinka nodded. "I'm just a little nervous."

Sanae closed her eyes. "The karmic butterfly swarms tend to swell at the last minute before a big event. Now would be the point where they flow through you en-mass, releasing their power as they do so."

"Butterflies in my stomach, huh?" Shinka smiled wrly. "Well, that's one way of putting it..."

Sanae opened her eyes and stared seriously. "Can you stand to face this challenge or must I give you my strength?"

Shinka shook her head. "I can do it." She stood and cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Attention everyone. I'd like to make an announcement." Within a few seconds, the chatter of her audience became silent.

"I brought all of you here because you're all people I trust. The level of trust may vary," Shinka looked pointedly at Makoto, "but I at least know that you can keep a secret. You kept _my_ secret, after all. Today, I entrust you with another one."

Shinka heard Yuuta heckle. "Not easy to keep your secrets with how often you blow your cover."

And edge crept into her voice as she tried to suppress her annoyance. "What I am about to tell you is classified information and must not be disclosed with anyone not currently in this room. I'm sure you've figured out what I'm about to tell you but if you haven't then I'll say it plainly."

Shinka paused for dramatic effect. Kazari shot her a knowing smile.

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She closed her eyes and said, "Sanae Dekomori and I are dating now."

She wasn't sure what reaction she'd get from that statement. In all honesty, she didn't know what to expect. But these people were her friends. They were sure to support or, at the very least, not go against her relationship, right? Yuuta seemed fine with it when she called him the previous night. Kazari and Satone were actively trying to get her and Sanae together. As for everyone else... she'd just have to trust them, wouldn't she?

Shinka kept her eyes firmly shut for what seemed like an eternity. There was not a peep from the others.

What was wrong? Were they not in favor of her relationship after all? Were they so surprised that they were completely speechless? Were they doing it deliberately to make fun of her? Were they just so apathetic that they didn't deem her worthy of any reaction whatsoever?

Why? Why were they silent? What was the reason?

Shinka grit her teeth and clenched her fists. "I... I..." Her voice died in her mouth.

None of the reason she came up with made any sense. _Nothing_ was making any sense. In the past twenty four hours, everything she had done and everything that happened to her defied logic and reason.

She and Sanae started dating. She kissed her from out of the blue. She invited her to sleep over. She made breakfast for her. She contacted all her friends to bring them to the club room. She even got people who didn't go to their school involved.

Why was she putting so much effort into a relationship she never even wanted to have in the first place? Why was she letting one single epiphany made just a day ago during a moment of incredible stress drive her to go to such lengths? It didn't make sense.

Love didn't make sense.

She heard someone stand and approach her. "There is nothing to be afraid of, Mori Summer." It was the voice of Satone Shichimiya. She felt something touch her nose. "I shall give you the strength to face this challenge."

Satone pulled away and she felt something else touch her nose. "So shall I." It was Rikka.

Rikka pulled away too. One last person approached and left a peck on her lips, finally garnering a reaction from the rest. "Open your eyes," Sanae said. "There is nothing to fear. Vanquish the demons from within and return to us. Open your eyes, Shinka."

It occurred to her that she had an internal struggle similar to this one before. It was just yesterday, in fact. What was she so afraid of? Shinka did as she was asked and opened her eyes.

"I..." She was met with the kind smiles of her friends.

Yuuta smirked. "I have to say, you surprised us."

"I don't...?"

Kazari nodded slowly. "You looked so scared. We weren't sure how to react."

"I was...?"

Makoto averted his eyes, chuckling guiltily. "I was going to tell a joke to lighten the mood but you suddenly started crying."

"I... What...?" Shinka brought a hand to her cheek and, indeed, a tear or two had streamed down her face.

Sanae grabbed hold of her hand and squeezed softly. "Relax, Shinka. Just relax."

Shinka took a shaky breath. "Relax...?"

Sanae nodded. "Relax," she repeated.

"Relax..."

Shinka took another shaky breath before her legs went limp and she collapsed backwards onto the floor. In her last few seconds of consciousness, she noted that her friends scrambled over to her, their worried words blending into incoherent chatter. The world faded to black shortly after.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an incredibly long chapter - long for this story, at least.
> 
> The very first scene was one I wrote for the last chapter. However, it didn't quite fit the tone - especially since I wanted to tie up Satone's Yuri subplot by then.  
> For the most part, that first scene was just there to exposit about Shinka's mom and her current feelings about her relationship with Sanae a little earlier than it would be relevant. It also serves as character development for Shinka.
> 
> The two scenes with Yuuta were mostly fluff (as usual) but I did write some little details that are relevant to this story. For example: I hand-waved how Rikka was actually present and fully lucid during the episode with the fake Mori Summer. I don't usually go back to that episode so I didn't remember until my last full rewatch. Thankfully, the hand-wave fit perfectly with Rikka's personality.
> 
> Finally, we have the scene that ends this arc. Personally, I'm not fully satisfied with it. There's so much I wanted the last scene to achieve but I just don't quite know how to write it - not right now anyway. So I settled with what you have here. I could have worked on it for a while longer - rewrite it over and over until I get it perfectly - but I'd probably never end up satisfied with it and it'd never get released. As contradictory as it may sound, it's better this way even though it's worse.
> 
> I don't know if most of my readers give these author's notes any mind - I know at least some of them do. I tend to use them to vent my frustrations at not being able to write the way I want to. And in doing so, I end up explaining my reasoning for writing what I did. Thus, in addition to helping with my emotional wellbeing, they are also informative. If you find these long tirades at the end of the chapter to be obnoxious, I apologize. Unfortunately for you, hypothetical author's-note-hater, I am not getting rid of them.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you in the next one.


	13. Waking to a Dillema

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been nearly a month since the last update. That writing high lasted relatively long but not long enough...
> 
> Here's the next chapter.  
> Enjoy if you can - if you can't I apologize.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka awoke to the familiar smell of sterilized air. She had a single guess as to where she was and felt quite confident that her guess was correct. Thus, upon opening her eyes and seeing the ceiling of the school infirmary, she allowed a sense of smug satisfaction to distract her from her headache. The feeling was as brief as it was petty.

She sat up with a groan.

On the chair next to her bed sat Sanae, hands folded neatly on her lap. She stared with a look of annoyance. "I've spent nearly all the afternoons of the week watching you slumber. Are you so inconsiderate that you sleep even now that I am your... your..." She faltered but kept a straight face. " _Your lover_...?" she finally managed.

Her tone began as scolding and prideful but wavered into an _awkward attempt_ at scolding and prideful. It was enough to force Shinka to suppress a laugh.

"Do not mock me!" Sanae demanded. "I have spent three years as your enemy! This is a difficult transition!"

The floodgates flew open and a cackle escaped Shinka's lips. "Stars above, stop making it worse," she gasped between fits of laughter.

"I'd appreciate it if you kept quiet in there," the head nurse said from his office.

That immediately put a lid on both Shinka and Sanae's outbursts. They exchanged a guilty look before nodding. There was now an unspoken agreement between the two that they speak with their _'inside voices'_.

"So, what happened to the others?"

"Everyone wanted to wait here for you but the nurse found that there were too many people and ordered that they vacate the infirmary - there was to be a maximum of two people at your bedside. They all agreed that it would be better if I stay by myself. Your two friends from class went home, as did mine. As it stands, the current and former members of the Far Eastern Magic Napping Society are waiting for you at our base along with Kazari Kannagi, Makoto Isshiki, and Sophia Ring SP Saturn VII."

Shinka stared, nodding slowly. "You know, it's surreal hearing you give reports in a calm professional manner. It's not so different that it seems like you're like another person entirely but different enough that it just feels _off_."

Sanae rolled her eyes. "Please. We both have commoner personas to deal with matters within the mundane world. It's just that mine is subtler and more refined than _you're_ pathetic facade as a _'normal high school girl'_."

Shinka bit back the insult she was about to retort with.

Sanae was subtle? Those were words Shinka didn't believe possible to utter without a _'not'_ in there somewhere - and yet, in the context of their conversation, what evidence was there to the contrary? Besides, the difference of Shinka's mask of a smile to whatever was underneath was far greater than she'd like to acknowledge.

"You're not wrong," she admitted ruefully.

If Sanae was surprised by her begrudging agreement, she did not show it. She merely shrugged, saying, "I know what I am. I may not know _everything_ about myself, but I know enough to not delude myself into believing that I am what I'm not."

"You have no idea how ironic that statement is," Shinka said dryly.

"And you have no idea who I really am," Sanae shot back. "This is the form I show you because it is what feels most comfortable. Very few people have seen my _true_ form."

True form? What sort of nonsense was she spouting now? What happened to subtlety?

Shinka sighed. "Whatever you say."

The nurse came to check on Shinka a few moments later. He came to the conclusion that she would be fine. The only reason she had fainted was due to a combination of lack of sleep, stress, and an unacceptably light lunch. She got quite an earful about how a sandwich from the school cafeteria was far from enough food for someone her age. After that brief scolding, Shinka was free to go, with an order to get something to eat as soon as possible.

As they walked back to the club room, Sanae spoke. "You know, I only noticed when made that comment about your weight earlier but you have _definitely_ gotten skinnier."

Shinka kept her face forward, not making eye contact. "It's been a week. It can't be _that_ bad..."

"No, I suppose it isn't," Sanae admitted. "Not yet anyway," she added under her breath. It was just loud enough that Shinka wondered whether the chuuni wanted her to hear it or not.

The rest of their journey was made in silence. They arrived at the club room without further incident.

Shinka hesitated in front of the door. "I don't want to go in there," she muttered.

"There is nothing to fear," Sanae stated.

"If I enter, I see two scenarios. Scenario A: They swarm me and start asking questions. Scenario B: They stop whatever they're currently doing and everything devolves into an awkward silence with equally awkward attempts at conversation. Regardless of which one it is, I do not have the patience nor the energy to deal with it. Can you look me in the eyes and say neither of those two things will happen?"

Sanae tilted her head. "Are you unwilling to find out? Because if that is that case, it is perfectly within my power to enter the room and retrieve your bag. You can be on the train home within fifteen minutes."

Shinka scowled. "You know, I expected you to reply with a direct insult to my courage and resolve. This is a lot more subtle than usual."

"Subtle," Sanae repeated with a smirk. "With our current relationship, I now have the materials necessary for attacks such as this one. _Shinka~_ "

Shinka smiled ruefully. "I gave you a loaded gun and this is you pulling the trigger." She shook her head and put a hand on the door handle. "You win this round." She opened the door.

Her entrance to the club room was met with minor acknowledgement. The room's occupants quieted down somewhat but otherwise continued whatever it was they were doing. Yuuta was still talking with Makoto at the table while Kumin slept next to them. Rikka and Satone were huddled together in the corner, looking at Satone's phone and speaking in hushed whispers. Kazari sat across the table from Yuuta and Makoto, watching Rikka and Satone with a disarming smile that hid how intensely she was analyzing their interaction. All in all, the response to Shinka's arrival was calm and understated - exactly the way she wanted.

Shinka sat herself next to Yuuta, nudging him with her elbow. When he shot her with a quizzical look, she turned her head pointedly towards Rikka and Satone. "Please tell me they're not doing what I think they're doing."

Yuuta smiled apologetically. "They're watching a yuri anime. Satone said it had something to do with bears."

"Shoulda' known," Shinka deadpanned. She then took another look at the two in the corner only to find that they were now three. Sanae was sitting next to Satone, also staring at the phone. " _What the hell is she doing?_ " Shinka hissed.

"Relax, Nibutani," Makoto said, resting his chin on his palms. "It's just a little anime. It's not like its hurting anyone."

"You don't know Shichimiya like I do," Yuuta and Shinka said simultaneously. They shared a look for a beat before Yuuta continued for both of them. "Knowing the kind of things Shichimiya's into, the anime's probably lewd. If the teachers catch wind of them watching it at school, we'll be in big trouble."

"Bigger trouble, considering what happened yesterday," Shinka added, glancing at the window shutters, or more specifically, the lack thereof. "By the way, Togashi, have you paid for the damage yet?"

Makoto waved a hand. "Wa-wa-wait, you're telling me Togashi broke your windows?" he asked, suppressing a grin.

"Dekomori too," Yuuta grumbled.

Makoto's shoulders began shaking as he sniggered. "Oh my god, Togashi, that is _brilliant_. Absolutely brilliant."

Yuuta scowled and turned away. "Whatever, shut up," he mumbled.

Shinka resisted her urge to roll her eyes at the boys' back-and-forth. "Togashi, focus. Answer the question."

"No, I haven't, okay?" he snapped. "Dekomori told me she'd take care of it so I'm letting her. I _did_ ask my parents to send me some money anyway though, just in case she doesn't hold up her end of the bargain. Now, can we please get off this topic?"

Shinka went wide eyed. "No, wait. Sanae said she was going to take care of it?"

"Yeah. Yesterday, she said she'd tell her parents and they'd provide the money."

"Oh dear..." Shinka felt a heaviness settle into her stomach. Yuuta gave her a questioning glare. Though her voice had died, she revived it through sheer force of will. "Okay, last night I asked her if she wanted to have dinner with me. She called her parents and they said yes. We sort of left out how she's in trouble with the school for property damage."

" _'Oh dear'_ is right," Yuuta said in tired agreement. "That isn't everything, is it?"

Shinka winced. "Unfortunately, it gets worse."

"Do I even want to ask?"

"I jokingly told her to sleep over and she took it seriously. She sort of fell asleep on my bed before she could call her parents."

Yuuta massaged his temples. "The timing of this couldn't possibly be worse."

"Maybe they'll be understanding?" Shinka said hopefully. "The power of love can perform miracle-like feats in times of duress. I'd say this would be one of those times."

"Understanding of _what_? Your homosexual relationship with Dekomori or the fact that you two slept together alone in your house behind their backs while not telling them about how Deko was in trouble with the school? Neither one of those helps the other's case."

Shinka scowled. "Firstly, in this day and age, it doesn't really matter what gender the person you love is. If they don't approve, I don't care - and Sanae probably doesn't either."

"That's awfully assuming," Yuuta muttered.

" _Secondly_ ," Shinka growled in an attempt to ignore his heckling, "nothing says we have to tell them about both things at the same time."

"Nibutani, you're terrible at keeping secrets. For three years you've tried to keep your chuunibyou past covered up and yet the whole student body knows you used to have it. Even with you dating Dekomori, not a single person you called here was surprised to hear your announcement. Face it, Nibutani, as good as you are at keeping a front, you can't maintain it long enough that people believe you."

Yuuta spoke those last words with a sense finality. The brutal and biting truth of the matter was that he was absolutely right. It was a lance to the heart for Shinka if she had to be perfectly honest. He really pulled no punches.

Shinka averted her eyes. "It doesn't have to be for long. Just a week, maybe more..."

Yuuta rolled his eyes. "I'm paying my share tomorrow. If she doesn't pay by the end of the week, _she'll_ be the one in trouble." He glanced at Sanae. His expression softened. "Just so we're clear," he added, turning back to Shinka, "I'm only doing this so Deko takes responsibility. If I've learned anything from living with Rikka, you can't just dive deeper into your delusions to ignore your problems, no matter how big - or small - they are."

Shinka smiled sadly. "I guess you're right," she said with a tired sigh. "I'll talk to her later..."

She lowered her head onto the table, turning slightly so she would be facing away from Yuuta. She found herself facing Kazari who had turned her attention to Yuuta and Shinka's interaction while they were lost in conversation. Kazari joined Shinka in lowering her head, leaning in close to whisper.

"I know I told you this before," Kazari began, smiling mischievously, "but I have to say, you two are scandalously close for people who have their own respective significant others."

Shinka growled. " _Kannagi_."

"It bears repeating," Kazari said with a giggle. "Don't worry. I know there are friendships that transcend the boundaries of gender. It helps that you're dating a girl right now, though." She then returned her focus to Rikka, Satone, and Sanae. Such a teasing girl, that Kazari.

Shinka took a deep breath to calm herself and closed her eyes. Unsurprisingly, sleep came to her quite easily. As the last seconds of consciousness escaped her, she couldn't help but wonder if she was forgetting something. Something about food, maybe? With internal shrug, she shelved that thought and let the dream world take her.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta and the others had stopped that the playground next to the train station. Rikka was on the swing set swinging away with Satone pushing from behind. Makoto was talking with Kumin for a moment before departing for the station with Kazari, who apparently took the same train as him. The just left Yuuta, leaning on the railings, watching the pedestrians on the streets walk past them.

Part of Yuuta wondered how Sanae felt when they left her to once again watch over Shinka while she slept. He did recall how most of the week, she had been staying behind to do exactly that - it did not bode well for his assumptions. But then again, some other part of him argued, Sanae and Shinka were dating. Considering how Rikka was when she was first starting out in their relationship, Yuuta had a feeling that Sanae would be perfectly fine with watching Shinka sleep.

"It's creepy when I put it that way," Yuuta muttered.

"What's creepy?" Yuuta jumped at the question Kumin posed. She was suddenly right next to him - how'd she get there so fast?

"N-nothing," Yuuta stammered. "Just my thoughts wandering."

"Now that your thoughts have returned, perhaps tell us where it went?" Satone said with a grin as she walked towards them. "I'm curious to hear what it encountered on its travels."

Yuuta turned to the chuuni with an annoyed frown. He knew what that grin meant and was mildly dreading it. " _It's nothing_ ," he insisted.

Satone threw her hand up and point to the sky dramatically. "Your denial only intensifies my curiosity!" she proclaimed.

Yuuta crossed his arms, glancing away. "Curiosity killed the cat," he shot.

"But the satisfaction brought it back," Satone returned. She swung down her hand so that she was pointing at Yuuta. "Hero, you cannot hope to beat me in a battle of wits. Even at your strongest, you couldn't. You just give up too easily. Now tell us what it is you believe to be creepy."

Yuuta groaned throwing his hands up in the air in surrender. "Okay, you know what? Fine! You wanna know what it was? I was thinking about how Deko's been watching Nibutani sleep for the past week."

There was a pause.

Satone blinked. "Wow, yeah, that _is_ kinda creepy..."

Yuuta raised an eyebrow. "Curiosity sated?" he grumbled.

"Curiosity stated," Satone replied with a stiff salute. She moved back to the swing set where Rikka was watching them carefully. No doubt, Satone was reporting her findings.

"I'm glad Mori Summer is participating in club activities now," Kumin chimed. Yuuta delivered a light chop to her head. "Ow! Togaashiii, what was that for?"

"Nibutani's orders. Now what was this about club activities?"

"She's taking naps now."

Yuuta blinked in realization. Shinka was indeed taking naps as was expected in the napping club. Though, "naps" weren't really the right word for it. She never really went to sleep intentionally. She sort of just passes out in the middle of a conversation lull.

Now that Yuuta thought about it, something _had_ to be up with Shinka. As a person who constantly wanted to be doing something productive, falling asleep in the middle of conversations wasn't like her. He could forgive the first time, maybe even the second, but today marked the fourth occurrence - not to mention her fainting right after her announcement. Something happened or was currently happening to make Shinka like that. And whatever it was, he never thought to ask her what it was.

"Is something wrong Togashi?" Kumin asked.

"Nothing," Yuuta replied, shelving his guilt and worry for later. "By the way, how far have you gotten with Isshiki?"

Kumin tilted her head curiously. "Didn't you ask him about this in the club room?"

"Yeah, I did. Just want to hear your side of things. Like what was your first date like, how was your first kiss - that sort of thing."

"Hmm." Kumin rubbed her chin and though for a bit. The notable pout on her face suggested deep concentration.

"Well, he took me to an amusement park for our first date and we went on a bunch of rides. I had a lot of fun that time." Yuuta nodded, aware from Makoto's side of the story that Kumin slept through most of the rides.

"On our next date, I took him to have a picnic in the park. I packed him a box of lunch and he said he really liked it." Yuuta nodded once more. From what Isshiki said, the lunch was pretty good and they went people watching right afterwards. Kumin, of course, fell asleep, though she did give him a peck on the cheek when she woke up - she might have been half asleep when she did that considering how Kumin wasn't mentioning it.

"He went to meet my parents next. They said they expect a grandchild after I graduate university. Makoto's parents said that too, though they did preface it by saying something like _'you better have a good job before you even_ _think_ _about raising kids. I didn't raise a dead weight.'_ " Yuuta winced. When Makoto told him that part, he was so mortified. How Kumin was able to talk about that without any hint of embarrassment was nothing short of incredible.

"Oh, Dark Flame Master, perhaps you can explain what it is you're talking about? The Eye of the Wicked Lord and I are quite interested in your answer."

Yuuta turned once more to find Rikka and Satone standing behind them, arms crossed and expressions also cross.

Rikka face was scrunched up into a cute but undeniably furious expression. She flung her arm wildly and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Dark Flame Master, you are a gossip and a hypocrite!"

Yuuta blinked, a mix of surprise and confusion leaving him with a blank stare. He shook his head. "Okay, gossip I get but hypocrite?"

Satone joined Rikka in the dramatic finger-pointing gesture. "How many times have you complained about how Nibutani was always meddling with your and Takanashi's relationship? Hypocrisy, Dark Flame Master!"

Yuuta matched their stares with a look of resignation. If the fire in their eyes was anything to go by, they were not going to back off. This was a little argument that they'd take to the logical extreme if he tried to defend himself. The only problem was: what exactly was the consequence of _not_ defending himself?

Yuuta looked away. "I'm not denying it," he muttered weakly.

Rikka seemed to stumble on her words when he said that. "Y-you...! You should stop!"

Yuuta could only roll his eyes. This was going to be a long argument - he just knew it.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka took a deep breath as she crossed the threshold into Sanae's mansion, the estate casting an imposing shadow as she walked forward. It was just as big as Shinka remembered. The last time she visited was their second club Christmas party the previous year - though it looked far less intimidating when it was covered with blinking lights and seasonal decorations. Now, bathed in the fiery orange of the setting sun, the steel bars of the fence, the black tinted glass of the windows, and the sheer size of the estate made for a rather daunting sight. Somehow, Rikka and Sanae's insistence that the place was a fortress no longer seemed so silly...

Upon entering the mansion proper, a butler arrived to see to their bags. From said butler they found out that Sanae's mother was out in the garden having tea. They thanked him and quickly made their way to the garden behind the house.

As they walked, Shinka couldn't help but notice Sanae's rather tense strides. "Is something wrong?"

Sanae darted her eyes at Shinka for a second before looking away. She pursed her lips. "I am no longer sure this is a good idea..."

Shinka grimaced. Her girlfriend's uncharacteristically meek reply did not exactly instill confidence in her. "Well, you brought me here. We might as well just get this out of the way now."

"I suppose you're right," Sanae admitted.

They soon arrived at the garden and, sure enough, Sanae's mother was there, sitting at a small round table amidst a ring of flowers and trimmed shrubbery. Shinka swallowed a breath as they approached the woman, hoping for a favorable exchange but expecting so much worse. Suffice it to say, the anxiety she felt earlier had come back and was not going to make apologizing any easier...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, *this* chapter was hell to write.
> 
> So, in the time between the last chapter and this one, I finally fixed my home internet and I was once again able to watch youtube videos all day. Unfortunately, that also cut into my time writing. You see, before, I sort of had a loose schedule where I had a certain amount of free time delegated to writing with the rest used for other stuff like watching anime. When I lost my home internet connection, I was basically just writing and playing touhou for all my free time. When I got my internet back, I caught myself up on all the relevant things I missed - to the detriment of my writing. This chapter had 1.4k words done already since the last update and only in the past week did I start working on it again.
> 
> But enough of that. On to the actual chapter notes.
> 
> So, the first scene is actually the scene that was sitting in my documents, completed for two weeks while I wasn't writing. I'm actually quite proud of it as I was able to make a good number of throw-away lines and details into something relevant in the story. You'll notice how that is a particular trend in my writing style which lends itself nicely to long running stories like this one. I tell you now, everything in this story will retroactively become foreshadowing, one way or another.
> 
> The scene with Yuuta is, once again, pretty much fluff - though I do have ideas regarding how I want to use it in future chapters.  
> I started gaining interest in the dynamic between Rikka and Satone in my last rewatch of the show. They function quite similarly to the Rikka/Sanae dynamic in that they have similar interests and synergize well when they're both doing their usual chuunibyou thing. One big difference, however, is the equality in their dynamic. With Rikka/Sanae, there is a divide, however small, in that they still pretend to have a master-servant relationship. That does not exist with Rikka/Satone.  
> I don't know. There's a lot of nuance in their relationship that I haven't really captured yet. I want to explore it some more so expect more Satone in future chapters.
> 
> And finally, there's the last scene. It's mostly set up but don't get your hopes up for anything big. If past chapters are anything to go by, it can just as easily end in a cop-out as it can with something really heartfelt or dramatic.  
> Also, I still don't have a mental map for Sanae's house since we see so little of it in the anime. I was, and still am, pulling a lot of things out of my ass to paint a clear enough picture of what the place looks like while still leaving things to the imagination.
> 
> Anyway, that was a really long author's note - longer than the last scene of this chapter, even. I'll end it here. Until next chapter.


	14. Walking a Fine Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE!
> 
> Or rather, I've returned to my 1-2 month update cycle. Unfortunate, but necessary. In any case, here is the new chapter. Sorry it's kinda filler-y.
> 
> Enjoy if you can - if you can't I apologize

 

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka collapsed forward into her bed.

It was Wednesday - the middle of the week. And yet, the tiredness she felt was akin to that of a Saturday - the final school day before the cycle repeated on Monday. In the past week, she felt more stressed than she had in the entire year combined leading up to it. It was exhausting.

She rolled over and laid her arm over her eyes.

Perhaps it was arguable that she felt _that_ stressed. In hind sight, the past week was mostly just a gradient of mild misery with brief but steep spikes of stress and drama. It wasn't necessarily true that she felt _more stress_ in the past week but she certainly felt _more upset_. That fact did not make her feel any better about her situation, though...

That sobering realization prompted a groan from the ex-chuuni. "The fates must hate me..."

With a notable scowl on her face, Shinka struggled to sit up and pulled off her top. She didn't even bother to first take off her sweater vest or unbutton her shirt - she did not have a patience for that at the moment. She just grabbed the garments from the waist and pulled them over her head. She _did_ , however, remember to separate her colors from her whites. Thus, the discarded clothes lay a firm distance away from each other on her bed.

 _Sanae's mother is terrifying,_ Shinka thought to herself, grabbing whatever shirt was on the top of the stack in her drawers. _Whatever subtlety and cunning Sanae thinks she has, her mother is double that. To think she maneuvered the conversation in a way that made us somehow admit we were dating. How the hell did she do that and why the hell did I fall for it?_

Shinka bit her lip, pulling her head and arms through the shirt.

_And her reaction to finding out... I have no idea what she was thinking but at least I'm confident that she's not opposed to us being together. That doesn't mean I'm comfortable with her knowing so early, but it's better than I feared..._

Shinka thought on the prospect of changing out of her skirt but thought otherwise. She kept it on and exited her room, moving to the kitchen to reheat some leftovers for dinner.

_On the bright side, she forgives us for last night's unannounced-sleepover incident. In the end, we got what we came for and that's all that really matters. Whether or not she knows about our relationship doesn't play into it - until she decides to tell Sanae's father, that is._

_Why she's keeping it secret's still a mystery though. It might just keep me up tonight..._

She pulled a lunch box from out of the fridge and opened it. She paused for a moment to smell the contents, hoping that it hadn't spoiled yet. It thankfully hadn't.

_Ultimately, this isn't something I have any power over. Worrying about it won't do anything for but cause me grief. I just have to let it go..._

With practiced movements, she put the lunch box into the microwave and tapped in two minutes on the timer keypad.

"Let it go..." Shinka chuckled darkly. "Easier said than done..."

With that, she swung the microwave door closed.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta quietly knocked on the door to Rikka's bedroom. "Rikka, it's time for dinner." When he received no response, he knocked again. "Rikka?" Once again, no response. Yuuta stared coldly at the door.

With a feeling he could only describe as "not good," he announced his entrance and opened the door. "Rikka, are you eating or not?" As he expected, she was not in her room. A tired sigh escaped Yuuta's lips. "Of course," he muttered.

He slid the door back closed and returned to the kitchen.

Kuzuha spoke from her place on the table. "Did she run off somewhere again?" she asked unnecessarily. A single look from her brother was all the confirmation she needed. "Is she just goofing off or did you do something?"

Yuuta took a seat across from her and rested his chin on his palms. "I don't know. It might be a little of both." He stared down at his food with barely any appetite. "We had another long argument. I was asking Kumin how her love-life was doing since apparently she and Isshiki are dating."

Kuzuha raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. She got jealous and called you a hypocrite for being nosy." Yuuta's response was an involuntary wince. "Bingo," Kuzuha said.

"There are times I think her possessiveness is cute, but other times where it's just sort of... for lack of a better word, inconvenient."

"Maybe you just need to stop doing things that'll upset her in that way? I mean, all the other times you upset her, she _does_ just back down and admit she's wrong, right? Just swallow your pride and do the same."

Yuuta nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe." He paused for a moment longer before begrudgingly admitting that, "Yeah, I guess you're right..."

With that statement, Yuuta clapped his hands and said his thanks for the food and began to eat. He still didn't have an appetite...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka awoke that morning feeling terrible.

The incessant ringing of her alarm clock was a sharp knife through the thin layer of sleep keeping her unconscious. Even as she awoke, the sound kept hammering the knife deeper into her head, on and on for what seemed like forever. With desperate want to make it stop, she groped around towards the ringing in an attempt to find the alarm clock, slamming her palm onto the snooze button upon doing so. With that, the alarm finally stopped, flooding the room with silence.

Shinka let out the breath she was apparently holding in and relaxed her tense muscles, deflating into her bed. Her alarm was set to go off at seven, which meant she only had four hours of sleep. Unfortunately, she was correct in her prediction that she'd be kept up by her anxiety. She only got to sleep when exhaustion finally took her at three in the morning. It was not a good time.

With the power of will and habit, Shinka sat up and began her morning routine. In fifteen minutes, she took a cold shower, had breakfast, and was toweling off her hair while her uniform hanged on the door to her cabinet waiting to be put on.

She stared at the clothes with disinterest before letting herself fall backwards onto her bed.

She didn't want to go to school. After everything that happened in the past week, she needed a break. A _real_ break - not the kind where she was locked in her room for the entire day. A break where she could just be out and enjoy herself. Her only problem was how it was a school day. If she skipped school, she could only really stay at home otherwise a truancy officer might spot her. She'd eventually find a solution for that but at the moment it was not making itself clear to her.

A thought interrupted her musings for a moment. Why was she entertaining the idea of skipping class again? She already missed two days of school thanks to her little accident. The only reason she was able to keep up with the lessons was because she was ahead in her readings. Why on Earth was she even considering deliberately being absent?

Shinka closed her eyes. _Because I'm too stressed,_ she concluded. _It's not an excuse the school will accept but it's the truth. I'm too stressed. I can feel the seams coming undone._

 _Soon, it'll all be undone._ She pursed her lips. _And I don't know how I'll handle it..._

With a shake of her head, she got back up and began undressing.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta wasn't aware what time Rikka got back home the previous night. Whatever time it was, it must have been late as the chuuni was dead on her feet for the entire commute to school. It was more than a little worrying.

Rikka, of course, didn't seem concerned in the slightest. Indeed, it was like she didn't have a care in the world. She seemed more relaxed than Yuuta had seen her in months despite or perhaps even because of her rather zombie-like demeanor.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Yuuta asked, pulling Rikka by the shoulder to keep her from veering into a streetlamp - the third time in just as many minutes.

"Yeh," Rikka mumbled, swaying towards Yuuta as she took her next step. "Absolutely fine," she insisted. Shortly after saying that, she stopped to yawn. All Yuuta could do was stare at her, completely unconvinced yet unable to bring himself to voice just how unconvinced he was.

A sigh escaped his lips as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder to keep her from leaning too far in any direction and just collapsing. "Yeah, absolutely fine," Yuuta said with the tired resignation that he'd be picking up after Rikka more so than usual due to her sleepiness. His face turned to a wry smile as he held Rikka tighter. "You're lucky I love you," he grumbled in annoyance.

The two continued walking to school, albeit at a slower pace than usual.

AS they passed the gate, Yuuta felt a hand clap him in the back. "Look at you two, all cuddly out in public," Makoto Isshiki said with his usual annoying cadence and grin. "You're more lovey-dovey than usual. Something good happen?"

Yuuta rolled his eyes. "It's nothing. Rikka just slept really late last night like an idiot and now she can't say awake."

Makoto nodded. "Huh, weird. A lotta' you guys've been pretty sleepy lately. From what I heard from Kumin, Shinka's been sleeping basically every club meeting, right?"

Yuuta turned from Makoto to Rikka and frowned. Now that he'd mentioned it, Yuuta _had_ noticed a pattern of sleepiness with Shinka. At first he dismissed it as nothing to worry about, but it's been going on for literally a week now. What _has_ been up with her?

"Welp, seeing as you still have a half-asleep girlfriend to deal with, I'm going on ahead. Later, Togashi." With that, Makoto gave Yuuta a lazy salute as he jogged towards the shoe lockers.

Yuuta replied with a weak "Later" and a halfhearted wave of his hand.

The rest of their walk to their classroom was met with a surprising lack of unfortunate events. Aside from Rikka's sluggishness, they encountered no problems navigating the hallways and stairs. They didn't even have any trouble with the shoe lockers. They had been going through the motions of opening their lockers and switching out their outdoor shoes with their school shoes for the entire semester. It was basically second nature at that point.

Once in the classroom, Rikka went to her seat and promptly laid her head on the desk. She passed out the instant her forehead hit the wood. Yuuta could only palm his face and shake his head in disappointment. This action continued even as he sat down at his table.

"What's up with her?" Yuuta removed his hand and found that Shinka had taken a seat on the side his desk. She tilted her head in Rikka's direction. "What happened?" she asked again.

Yuuta's reaction was a reflexive sour grimace as he thought on Shinka's question. "I think I'm also a busy-body like you."

Shinka raised an eyebrow. "That's an interesting choice of words," she said, a steely coldness edging into her voice. "Care to expound, Togashi?"

"Oh don't give me that look. You _know_ how fussy you get with me and Takanashi."

Shinka's scowl deepened but didn't refute his statement. "Okay, fine, whatever. What's it gotta do with Takanashi?"

"I was talking with Kumin about her relationship with Isshiki. I was just curious, you know?"

Understanding dawned in Shinka's eyes as she cut Yuuta off. "Let me guess. Takanashi found out and didn't like it," she said with the same smugness she always seemed to have when she guessed something right. Yuuta had half a mind to deny her the satisfaction by saying she was wrong. It'd be interesting to see how she'd react at the very least.

Of course, he didn't do that. More to the point, he _couldn't_. The look on his face was enough of an answer to Shinka who had already moved on.

"So it was that jealous streak of hers. What's that got to do with her being so-"

Something seemed to snap in Yuuta.

"Well if you _let me finish_ ," he growled, "I'd have told you that we got in a long one-sided argument where Rikka concluded she didn't want to talk to me for a while. She locked herself in her room when we got home and snuck out before dinner. I didn't know where she was the entire time or when she got home. Now do you get it?"

Feeling winded, Yuuta slowly relaxed into his chair, realizing that he had said all of that in one emotionally charged breath. Shinka merely stared at him, brows raised in alarm and mouth agape by a sliver. She then nodded slowly, looking away, pondering on Yuuta's explanation of his and Rikka's situation.

And then she chuckled.

"Feeling a little stressed, are we?" Shinka asked with a wry smile.

Yuuta scowled with a mild sense of puzzlement. "Um, yes? What exactly is so funny?"

Shinka shook her head. "It's nothing," she said with a dismissive wave. When Yuuta continued staring, looking unconvinced, she merely repeated herself. "Seriously, it's nothing."

"I'm finding it increasingly hard to believe that."

Unfortunately, Yuuta was unable to continue prodding Shinka for the answer as the teacher soon entered the classroom and they were forced to put their conversation on hold. Even still, it remained on Yuuta's mind long after classes started.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it just a little ironic that my fic productivity is inversely proportional to how much free time I have. I tend to not post a lot during the holidays, which is unfortunate.
> 
> But in any case, that was a chapter. As I said, it was pretty filler-y. Not that filler is bad, but coming back from a short hiatus to post a filler chapter doesn't sit well with me. Oh well. A chapter is still a chapter.
> 
> Until the next one!


	15. The Distance of Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a little over a month and a half since my last update. That being said, here you guys go: A new update. Enjoy if you can.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka's awakening was gradual, as if consciousness was a steadily rising tide over her body and mind. And when she was fully awake, she remained as she was, head down on what she assumed was the club room table. Directly in front of her was the voice of Sanae and Yuuta in what seemed to be a discussion on one of the problems in their Physics homework that day.

"... and so, the person in the vehicle will arrive at their destination five minutes  _after_  the person walking on foot."

An unsatisfied hum came from Yuuta. "Eh, it makes sense, I guess?"

"If you are still confused after my thorough explanation, Dark Flame Master, then I'm afraid that only death will save you from a failing grade."

"Oh shut it. This is hard, okay?"

"Oh contra, this is not a challenge for someone of my power level."

"Alriiight, I get it. You're smarter than me. And it's ' _au contraire_ ' by the way."

"I know that. That's what I said."

"No it wasn't."

"Au contraire! Yes it was."

A giggle escaped Shinka's lips at their conversation. She raised her head and gave both Yuuta and Sanae a drowsy smile. "You should just give up, Togashi. I know from experience that she's not backing down."

Yuuta smirked. "So the zombie lives. How do you feel?"

"Terrible."

To that, Yuuta chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "Business as usual then." He then closed his text book and turned to Sanae. "What was it you said earlier? That Rikka'd wake up before Nibutani?"

Sanae scowled. "There is no need to be coy. If you want your payment then I would be happy to give it to you." As she said that, she presented Yuuta with a 1000 yen bill.

"Yeah, you certainly  _sound_  happy." Yuuta chuckled once more as he pocketed the money.

Shinka watched the exchange with mild disinterest, releasing a yawn as she stretched her arms. Part of her wanted to be insulted that she was the topic of a bet. Another part of her wanted to be flattered. "So, now what?"

Yuuta crossed his arms and thought for a bit. "Well, unless you have some crazy plan for us to do, Rikka's normally the one who's in charge of club activities. Unfortunately..." He glanced to the side.

Shinka followed her gaze to the sleeping Rikka sat against the wall under the window. If she listened carefully, she could almost hear the chuuni's soft breathing.

"I won't envy her later tonight," Yuuta muttered. "She's gonna be wide awake when the rest of us are sleeping."

Shinka nodded once, leaning forward and resting her chin on her palms. "Did you ever find out where she goes when she's out late at night?"

Yuuta shrugged. "Usually, I'm told the next day that she stayed at Shichimiya's but..."

Shinka tilted her head curiously. "I'm guessing there are times she  _doesn't_  stay at Shichimiya's?" Yuuta nodded in response.

Shinka turned to Sanae who was being uncharacteristically silent, merely sitting and listening. "What about you? Got any input on his little dilemma?"

Sanae frowned and closed her eyes, seeming to think on the question a bit. "My master  _does_  end up contacting me whenever she goes out at night. They are always cryptic messages."

"Liiike...?"

A twinge of annoyance flashed on Sanae's face. "Majority of her messages, however cryptic, contain private information that I'd sooner take to the grave than disclose to a third party... However..." She turned to Yuuta, expression softening. "I do understand that it worries you, Dark Flame Master. I'd be lying if the thought of my Master venturing into dangers unknown did not also worry me. Rest assured, it is nothing like the events of last year."

Yuuta nodded thoughtfully, a strange melancholy coming over him.

Shinka once again watched the exchange with mild disinterest. What were the events of last year? Something about Rikka sneaking out at night for some sort of delusional ritual? And Shichimiya was there as well...?

Shinka twitched as she remembered.

The three tokens to unlock the Dark Flame Dragon. It was one of the rituals Yuuta had written into his middle school notebook. Rikka had spent her nights for at least three months trying to find that one last token. She ended up getting sick from it.

No wonder he was so stressed about it. That'd make  _anybody_  worried.

"Maybe it's time for us to go?" Yuuta blinked and raised an eyebrow and Shinka's suggestion. "Well, obviously we're not doing anything. If it's just you and Sanae studying, you can do it at your house. And besides..." Shinka looked pointedly at Rikka sleeping by the windows. "It's probably better if she sleeps on a bed."

Yuuta sighed. "Yeah, you're right." He began packing up.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Rikka had a vague sensation of movement as consciousness came to her. The slight bobbing up and down and the feeling of moving forward. And somehow, she felt warm. What ever could be causing it?

"Yuuta...?" she muttered.

"Oh, you awake?" Yuuta's voice said rather close to her. "How do you feel?"

It was at that moment that Rikka came to the realization that she was being carried. Her arms were wrapped around Yuuta's shoulders and her legs were being held at his waist. A small part of her felt mildly embarrassed but a bigger part of her felt unbelievably happy. She held on more tightly. "I'm okay..."

Yuuta nodded. "Glad to know. There wasn't really anything to do since you were asleep so we all decided to go home."

"Wha...? What about the others?"

She heard Yuuta chuckle. "They're right here, actually."

Rikka blinked her eyes open and tried to look around. She found that they were only a block away from the station. They'd arrive home in just a few minutes. She also noted that right next to them was Sanae, marching forward, holding a school bag in each hand, raising them up as one would in a fighting stance. On the other side was Shinka, walking forward with a bored expression, also holding two bags in front of her. The ex-chuuni met her gaze for a moment.

"Might as well make sure you're safe getting home," Shinka muttered. "It's not like we're doing anything else."

Rikka blinked once more. A small smile tugged at her lips. "Thank you," she whispered - perhaps a little too softly since Shinka looked away without acknowledgemt.

"What was that?" Yuuta asked.

"Nothing."

"Hmm. If you say so." Yuuta slowed to a stop. "Well, since you're awake now, I'm gonna put you down." He began to kneel down.

Rikka shook her head, tightening her hold even more. "No. I wanna stay like this."

Rikka couldn't see Yuuta's face but from his sigh alone she could already tell he was rolling his eyes. "Oh come on Rikka, don't be a baby."

"No."

"Let go."

"No."

" _Rikka_."

"Yuuuutaa~"

Rikka heard another exasperated sigh from Yuuta. " _Fiine,_ " he grumbled. He then turned towards Shinka who was staring at them with a suppressed smile. " _Not a word_ ," Yuuta warned.

Shinka giggled. "You two are adorable."

Rikka quickly buried her face into Yuuta's shoulder as blood rushed to her cheeks. Even as she did so, she couldn't help but smile to herself.

"Oh shut up," Yuuta grumbled. He then turned away and began walking at a pace faster than before.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Dark Flame Master, push too far ahead! We still have your bags!"

Their trip home continued without further incident.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Standing at the bottom the stairs was Satone, waiting for Shinka and Sanae on their way home from Yuuta's apartment. She gave them a knowing smile. "How was your first day as lovers?"

Shinka twitched in annoyance. What a way to start the conversation. "What do you want, Shichimiya?"

Satone grinned. "Such hostility. In what way have I earned it, Mori Summer?"

That earned a groan from Shinka. She did  _not_  want to deal with Satone's brand of teasing - not today, not ever. " _Shichimiya,_ " she said flatly.

"Nyahahaha!" Satone's signature cackle made Shinka wince as it pierce echoed through the night. Satone then took a step back, leaning forward and crossing her arms in front of her face, covering her eyes yet keeping her smile visible. "'Tis a jest, Nibutani. No need for that kind of tone."

There was silence for a moment as Shinka let sink in how unamused she was. Then Sanae stepped forward at poked Satone in the side. She recoiled. "Ah! Alright, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just a joke. Jeez."

Sanae swung her hand pointedly at Satone. "Answer the question, Magical Devil Girl. I grow weary of these pleasantries"

Shinka groaned once more. " _Sanae._ " Said girl turned to Shinka, an expression of betrayal on her face. Shinka raised an eyebrow. "What? Do you seriously need some explanation on why I didn't like what you did?"

Sanae pouted. "Spoil sport," she grumbled. "And to think I defended you earlier. I can't believe I'm in a lover's pact with someone so ungrateful."

" _Ungrateful?_ " Shinka rolled her eyes. "Okay, first off, how was that defending me? You poked her in the side."

"It was a strike to a vital point that stunned her!" Sanae exclaimed.

_"How is that defense?"_

"The best defense is a good offense!"

"She's not wrong," Satone added.

Shinka rubbed her temples. "You know what, guys? I don't care anymore. Change of topic.  _Please_."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

The three of them moved their conversation the edge of the river, near the bridge. There was a lack of people around that did wonders to calm Shinka's nerves. The view of the river also helped - the reflections of the bold orange sunset on the surface was beautiful to look at.

Shinka sat on the bench, opening the meat bun they had bought from the nearby convenience store. She took a bite and turned to Satone who was trying to take a picture of the river from an awkward angle through the guard rails. "So what did you want to talk about, Shichimiya?"

The chuuni dropped to her knees and continued trying to take a picture. "As I said before, how was your first day as lovers?"

Shinka swallowed the mouthful of food she was chewing and sighed. "What exactly do you want to know? To be honest, I don't think anything changed."

"I concur," Sanae added, taking a seat next to Shinka. "The same as with my Master's,  _our_  lover's pact is different from that of commoners. We need not adhere to  _their_  set of social norms."

Shinka scowled. "As much as I hate the way she put it - and I  _really_  hate the way she put it - Sanae's right. Our situation's different from the usual and I have no idea what'd be considered  _'normal'_  for us..." She then looked pointedly at Sanae. "And a lot like Togashi, being with this little midget makes figuring things out a bit harder than it needs to be."

Sanae pouted. "Always with the height. Why do you always aim for the low hanging fruit?"

"Because if I aim too high it won't hit you."

Satone seemed to finish taking her picture since she stood up and faced them. She flashed an amused smile before looking away, nodding thoughtfully. "Fascinating," she muttered.

Shinka's scowl deepened. Of all the reactions she could have had, hers was  _'fascinating'_? Perhaps it was not the first time, but Shinka just had to wonder what exactly was going on in that mind of Satone's.

"Are you satisfied yet?"

There was a moment of silence before Satone replied with a sigh and a shrug. "Close enough?"

Shinka blinked. "What...?"

Satone chuckled and shook her head. "I'm not sure if you've realized this but none of what you've said matters to me." She leaned back on the guard rail, looking towards the sky. "Whether or not anything's changed? What's considered normal for people in your situation? I honestly don't see the point of thinking about that."

"Then what  _does_  matter to you? Stop spinning your wheels and just tell us what you want to know."

Satone lowered her gaze back to Shinka, their eyes meeting. "Are you two happy with each other?"

Shinka stared for a moment before looking down.  _Was_  she happy being in a relationship with Sanae? That was certainly a weighty question - one she didn't quite have an answer to yet. They've been together for a little over thirty six hours. How exactly would she determine whether or not she was happy?

Then she felt Sanae's hand slip into hers. "My answer might be tentative, but I'd say I'm quite happy being with Shinka."

Sanae's voice didn't sound different, and yet a feeling of intense sincerity struck Shinka in a way she never expected. A fervent energy seemed to well up inside her.

Satone gave them a small smile, as if aware of what Shinka was experiencing. "Is that so?"

Shinka felt a small squeeze from Sanae's hand, sending jolts through her arm. "Yes."

"So you are," Satone said softly, almost in a whisper. She then spoke louder. "I suppose it's time for me to leave."

Shinka blinked in confusion once more. "What? Why?"

Repeating the pose she made earlier, Satone leaned forward, crossing her arms in front of her face. Her smirk was all they saw before spoke. "Because I got what I wanted." She then broke into a run.

Shinka quickly stood up with the intention of shouting at Satone to come back but her voice died in her throat as she noticed how much distance she had already put between them. A feeble whine was all that escaped her mouth as she slowly sat back down.

" _She_  certainly made a quick exit," Shinka muttered.

"Indeed," Sanae agreed in an annoyed grumble. "After all that questioning? She didn't even bid us farewell."

Shinka closed her eyes and nodded thoughtfully. "That's just how Shichimiya is," she sighed. "She never says goodbye... she hates goodbyes..."

With that, Shinka took another bite of her meat bun.

 **CHUUNIBYOU**  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first scene of this chapter took me, I don't know, six attempts? I don't even remember anymore. What I do remember is that half of those attempts were Rikka-centric while the other half is Shinka-centric. Obviously the scene ended up being Shinka-centric.
> 
> The idea was to have either Rikka or Shinka wake up in the club room while Yuuta and Sanae were studying. They'd decide that they'd end club activities early and the person still sleeping would be carried home. It was all merely a set up for the very next scene where the person carried would wake up during the commute. Hilarity and/or cuteness ensues.
> 
> I'd say my execution of these particular scenes were okay. They don't quite paint the same picture I was imagining but it's good enough that I'm willing to show it to other people.
> 
> The next set of scenes were one of a few possible scenarios I had in the works. What I ended up going with was a short meaningful conversation between Satone, Shinka, and Sanae about the state of Shinka and Sanae's relationship.
> 
> Personally, I find the emotions I put into the final scene weren't quite strong enough. It makes me wonder if there was a better execution I could have tried. But I had already written most of it when I came to that conclusion so I ended up finishing it. Honestly, I want to rewrite large chunks of the scene but I don't know what I'd do different.
> 
> Oh well. I'll surely do better when I get another chance.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Until the next one.


	16. A Want of Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a steamy scene in this chapter. Not enough to be warrant a change in rating though.
> 
> Enjoy if you can.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

It was a cloudy afternoon when the end-of-school bell rang that Friday.

Shinka closed her book shut, trying to ignore the hustle and bustle of her classmates. All around her, students began packing their bags, no doubt eager to meet with their after school club that day. Shinka followed suit but did not share her classmates enthusiasm. She doubted if there was ever a time when she'd say she was excited to go to the Far East Magic Napping Society.

That's not to say she didn't enjoy being in the club. In truth, she _did_ actually enjoy - quite a lot actually - though nothing short of divine intervention would ever compel her to admit it. Despite all the grief and annoyances it brought her, it was still her primary source of stress relief - one she would loath to give up come the steadily approaching Finals for their first term.

A sigh escaped her lips as she shouldered her bag and wordlessly followed Yuuta and Rikka out the classroom. A good minute went by of them just walking with no conversation. Yuuta was the one to break the silence.

"Tired as usual, Nibutani?"

Shinka grimaced at the wording he used. Was she so consistently tired that it was now considered the norm? That was an annoying thing to realize. "Shut up, Dork-lame Master," she growled.

Yuuta stared with a raised eyebrow. "No need to get testy. I was just trying to talk."

Shinka returned the gaze for a moment, before looking away. She pursed her lips. "Sorry. I _am_ kinda tired. I didn't mean to..."

She then felt a tug on her sleeve. She turned to find Rikka eyeing her worriedly. "Have you gotten enough sustenance, Nibutani?"

The look Rikka was giving her nearly melted every bone in her body. The chuuni was so sincere in her concern that Shinka had to suppress a squeal. It was so adorable. "Yes. I had a full lunch box today, remember?" Shinka said, managing a small strained smile. Just a small strained smile. Anything more expressive would have felt weird.

Rikka stared at her skeptically for a moment before nodding quickly and looking away. She then held her bag with both hands ran ahead to the clubroom. To that Shinka sweatdropped. What she just saw was certainly a strange reaction to receive for a completely true statement.

Shinka turned to Yuuta and once again received a similar kind of skeptical look mixed with what seemed to be a suppressed smile. Shinka scowled and pulled him close. "Okay, what's with the looks?"

Yuuta chuckled. "I could ask you the same thing. I'm not sure you realized the face you were making but you looked like you really _really_ wanted to pinch Rikka's cheeks."

Shinka twitched. Perhaps she didn't have as much control over her expressions in that particular instance as she assumed? No, impossible. It was just a small smile, right...? Right...? Oh, who was she kidding. It had to have been obvious if Yuuta and Rikka of all people noticed.

"And to think I was part of the theater club for two years," she bemoaned dramatically. "Where did all that acting skill go?"

Yuuta gave her a reassuring tap on her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it. It's nice that you're open with us, even if it's unintentional," he said before pulling ahead.

Shinka watched his back shrink as he continued down the hallway. The boy had either completely missed her joke or was outright ignoring it.

 _It's nice that you're open to us,_ she repeated in her head. "It's _not_ nice," she insisted weakly.

With a displeased growl, she increased her pace to match Yuuta. They reached the club room without further incident.

Yuuta took one step inside and immediately stopped. "What did I just walk into?" he asked tiredly

Shinka looked over Yuuta's shoulder and had to do a double take. Rikka fumbled her hands for a bit before jumping into a defensive pose. Sanae also scrambled to her feet, raising her arms in a similar battle stance. All of that was normal, of course but what she saw before that... Was Rikka just touching Sanae's face...? Pinching maybe, considering the notable redness of Sanae's cheeks?

"You saw nothing, Dark Flame Master!" Rikka exclaimed, as if her words would erase what he saw.

There was a pause before Yuuta hummed in annoyance. "Yeah, I saw nothing," he said, deciding to just roll with it.

Shinka thought to herself for a moment, debating on whether or not to press the issue. It took her only a second to come to the same conclusion as Yuuta. He had more patience than Shinka so if _he_ didn't feel like it was worth going against them then _she_ certainly didn't want to try. She nodded thoughtfully and went to wait in the corner for Yuuta to set up the table.

"It's nice that you know your role here in the club room, Togashi." Shinka said cheekily as Yuuta dragged the desk to the center of the room.

"Yeah. I'm the only straight-man, who has to deal with everyone's weirdness" Yuuta replied dryly. He glanced at Shinka and smirked. "In more ways than one."

Shinka frowned. _By weirdness I assume he means chuunibyou... but what about that 'more ways than one' comment?_ "Where were you going with that joke, Togashi? Do we have a problem?"

Yuuta blinked. "I... what? I'm literally the only straight man in this club - I'm straight-man and a straight man. I don't-" His eyes widened as he realized what Shinka was assuming. He winced and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I could've phrased that a bit better, huh?"

"Yeah. You could have..." Shinka pursed her lips. "But I suppose I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion when you said that..."

An awkward silence followed as the four of them took their place at the table. Shinka dug her pockets and pulled out a handful of candy which she then casually tossed onto the bowl in the middle of the table.

She leaned forward and rested her chin on her palms. "You, know Togashi, you're not completely correct with what you said earlier. For one, you're not the _only_ straight-man. For another, you're not a straight _man_. You are obviously still a boy"

Yuuta rolled his eyes. "Semantics," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "For one, I turned eighteen last month so, as far as the law is concerned, I _am_ a man. For another, the joke already didn't work. You don't have to rub it in."

Shinka chuckled in response.

Following shortly after that was a good chunk of time dedicated to answering homework and a few minutes of Rikka and Sanae's chuunibyou antics - something about a disaster that would befall the Earth some time in the near future that would start spawning demons into the physical realm? Nonsense like that. The two eventually ran out of speculative predictions and theories and the entire club ended up gathered around the table, enjoying each other's company as they tried to keep themselves occupied.

"Oh, Dark Flame Master," Sanae suddenly said, breaking the silence of Yuuta and Shinka's reading. Shinka glanced to Yuuta who seemed to be deliberately ignoring Sanae. " _Dark Flame Master_ ," Sanae repeated more forcefully. Shinka could see that faint lines of annoyance in Yuuta's face as he suppressed a scowl.

Shinka shook her head slowly and leaned back, shooting a look at Sanae. Noticing her gaze, Sanae turned to face her, raising an eyebrow in question. Shinka made a cutting gesture towards her neck before looking pointedly at Yuuta.

Sanae's expression blanked, though it was obvious she was displeased. The chuuni sighed. " _Yuuta Togashi_ ," she said flatly, addressing him by his full name, pronouncing every syllable like she hated it.

Yuuta looked up from his textbook. "Yes, Dekomori?" Shinka could only roll her eyes. Hypocrisy or not, such pettiness annoyed her something fierce.

"May I make a request?" Sanae said. A sadistic smile then formed on her face. "I'd like you to pinch Master's cheeks and tell her she's cute."

Shinka exchanged looks of bewilderment with Yuuta. Sanae wanted _what_?

Inevitably, their gaze moved to Sanae's supposed victim who was doing her best to look inconspicuous behind the textbook she was pretending to read. The subtle shaking of her fingers as she kept the book raised betrayed her nervousness.

Once again, Shinka turned to Sanae, shooting her a questioning look. Sanae shot back with a knowing wink, as if Shinka would understand what that meant. Could this be some kind of revenge for what Rikka had done earlier?

Shinka smirked, turning to Yuuta. "C'mon, Yuuta. You gonna do it or what?"

Blood had rushed to Yuuta's face as he turned away. "Look, do you seriously expect me to do something like that in front of you guys!?"

Shinka crossed her hands and turned her nose at Yuuta's outburst. "Oh, we're not saying you have to do it in front of us. We're not even saying you have to do it at all. We just want you to do it. No one's forcing you."

"I..." Yuuta seemed at a loss for words. "Well..." He turned to Rikka pleadingly.

Riika peeked over the textbook just enough for her single eye to become visible over the pages. "I... I am not averse to the idea... but..."

" _Rikka._ "

The two maintained eye contact as some sort of unspoken agreement was being made, breaking only when Yuuta stood up and began packing his things. Rikka quickly did the same thing. It took less than a minute before they unceremoniously left the clubroom. The door closed with finality, plunging the room into deep silence.

Shinka was screaming inside. What she just saw was the same tooth rotting sweetness that had gotten Shinka rooting for Yuuta and Rikka's relationship in the first place. And it was the very same sweetness that also made her want to punch a wall and shout at the top of her lungs that they should just kiss already.

Shinka slumped forward and crossed her arms on the table, resting her head on the crook of her elbow. "You think we might have gone a bit too far?" she wondered aloud, glancing to Sanae at her side.

Sanae frowned, joining Shinka in laying her head on the table. "I don't know. Master says their current pace is one they're comfortable with. I'd say pushing them is a bad idea." Her frown deepened. "However, I would be lying if I said I wasn't also mildly frustrated by their progress."

Shinka smiled. "It's that snail's pace that makes it so fun to tease them, though."

There was a squeak of suppressed laughter from Sanae. "True"

They shared a chuckle as a warm afternoon breeze entered through the window. The deep silence was cozy for a time

"You know... sometimes I'm jealous of them," Shinka mumbled.

Sanae hummed in question. "Why?"

Shinka pursed her lips. "Those two... they're surprisingly honest with each other... Neither of them really know how to express themselves, but... somehow..." She trailed off, her words failing her.

Sanae close her eyes, an ironic smile forming on her face. "I know what you mean. The bond between those two is powerful, obvious even to the spectrum of light visible to humans. There are times when the nature of that bond comes into question but it is undeniably there. They seem like siblings sometimes. Like close friends other times. It's rare that they act like lovers. But then... even then... they know what they are."

Even as Shinka tried to parse the exact meaning of Sanae's gibberish, the overall message was heard. _They know what they are,_ Shinka repeated, mouthing the words as she thought them. She could only wince.

"Be honest with me, Sanae. What am I to you?"

There was a dissatisfied hum in response. "The question you ask doesn't have an answer. Not one you will accept, at the very least."

In other words, she didn't know - not a surprising response considering how Shinka herself didn't know either. She almost laughed at the absurdity. They had been dating for close to three weeks and had known each other for close to _three years_. One would assume they'd understand what their relationship was. She supposed that it was unfortunate that they didn't.

"I understand that we're lovers," Sanae said flatly. "But there is a certain peculiarity with our relationship. It feels... _off_ somehow... not all the time... just..."

Had she been in any other situation, Shinka would have giggled. It was rare to see Sanae at a loss for words. "Sometimes, the spark is there and everything feels right. Other times... it feels like we were never girlfriends in the first place..."

"Like right now...?"

"Yeah... like right now..." Shinka smiled humorlessly. "It's that feeling of emptiness. That feeling of something being missing."

There was a sober pause as they shifted positions, allowing them to look each other in the eye even as they remained slumped over the table.

In the shadows cast on their backs by the window, Sanae's eyes seemed to glow an ephemeral blue. Shinka felt oddly transfixed - as if what she saw was a supernatural phenomenon she couldn't comprehend. She moved in closer.

"Shinka?" Sanae shrank back as she tried to sit up.

Shinka took a sharp breath at the utterance of her name. Goosebumps. A chill up her spine.

"I want you," she suddenly found herself saying as a fervent energy welled up inside her. She pushed herself off the table, leaning forward. "Sanae, I want you so much it hurts. I need you to tell me _right now_ to stop."

Sanae blinked once before understanding dawned on her face. Her eyes were alight with fear and excitement. She didn't tell Shinka to stop - she didn't look like she wanted to. Instead, she said two simple words.

"Take me."

Wordlessly, Shinka shoved the table aside and lunged forward, pressing her lips to Sanae's. The next thing she knew, she was leaning so far forwards that she was practically on top of Sanae, feeling a rapidly beating heart against her chest. Sanae looked up at her as her head dangled mere inches away, their faces close enough that they could feel each other's heavy breathing on their lips.

"I..."

"More," Sanae breathed pleadingly as she caressed Shinka's face, her fingers gliding smoothly over the skin of her cheek.

 _More,_ Shinka mouthed as her mind fell deeper into her daze.

Sanae impatiently pushed herself forward, wrapping her arms around Shinka's shoulder. Their lips met once more.

Their second kiss was messy and awkward - prodding of tongues, accidental bit lips. Neither really knew what they were doing. But none of that mattered - not when both were drowning in desire. Desire for touch - for a feeling of connection with one another. It demanded to be sated.

Even as she lost herself in what she was experiencing, there was a small part of Shinka that was still thinking straight. She knew for a fact that the two of them would end up in such a situation eventually. They were both sexually-repressed teenagers with feelings for each other. _Something_ was bound to happen. It was all a matter of the opportunity presenting itself.

The two pulled apart, gasping for air. Shinka could feel her head spinning as she stared into Sanae's eyes, a wild light seeming to dance inside of them.

"Wow," Sanae breathed numbly. Shinka was inclined to agree with that sentiment.

"We really should stop," Shinka managed, voice still hollow as she tried to push herself off. Sanae nodded slowly, also trying to sit up.

"Will we be doing that again...?"

Shinka thought for a moment before smiling in an uncharacteristic grin. "There will definitely be a round 2."

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this chapter was to be in two or three parts - mostly Shinka/Sanae focused but with Yuuta/Rikka focused side story. As it happened, Shinka's scene ended up being over 2k words and seemed to end the chapter quite nicely. I decided to move Yuuta and Rikka's scene to the next chapter. It should be there barring any unforeseen changes I might want to make.
> 
> The first part of this story was innocuous enough, maybe leaning a little too hard on my particular brand of humor. In any case, there was a short time skip of two weeks because I'm running out of ideas to make every single day unique and interesting.
> 
> Then of course, we have the second half of this chapter.
> 
> My usual writing style has a lot of repetition and rambling, emphasizing how characters feel and what they think during any given situation. It was definitely prominent at the start where I was still maneuvering the conversation to where I wanted it to go.
> 
> There is a definite point where it became a straight shot from A to B. It was a stream of consciousness when it was first written. It took me a while to get everything into actual paragraphs. In the end, I'm happy with how it ended up.
> 
> My thanks to FanFiction authors SnareRifle and Shikuro-kun for their help in that.
> 
> I said before that, barring any supposed additions to the story or long stretches of chapters where nothing happens, Compensation should be anywhere between 24 and 26 chapters long. That said, I estimate this story to become 26-28 chapters long now. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out what happened.
> 
> Well, I've made this A/N is long enough. I'll end it here.  
> Until the next chapter!


	17. The Staying Power of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for mood whiplash. Enjoy if you can.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

An aura of all-consuming silence seemed to follow Rikka and Yuuta on their commute home. Few words were exchanged on their walk to the station. So too was their ride on the train. Even now that the two were sat at the table inside the safety of their own home, the silence remained ever present.

"I'm sorry," Rikka said, her voice sounding small even in the somber emptiness of the room. "I did not intend to say what I said earlier..."

Yuuta shook his head. "It's nothing to be sorry about. It was really brave of you to admit... But I do have to say... that was a curve ball, Rikka. I don't know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't _that_." He shifted in his seat. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not even mad. I'm actually kinda happy... just..."

The boy trailed off, once again allowing the invasive silence to taint the air with its heaviness.

Rikka pursed her lips. "I will admit, it felt mildly pleasing... and I want you to know that it wasn't a lie. I do truly want it... just... not in the way they described..."

Yuuta sighed. "You're making it sound lewder than it actually is," he grumbled, rolling his eyes as he usually did. He leaned forward, an aura of seriousness emanating from the relatively neutral expression on his face. "So, you want me to pinch your cheeks and call you cute?"

Rikka twitched as his words caused brief flashes to enter her vision - flashes depicting the very scene he was describing. An uncomfortable heat began welling up inside her.

"Perhaps not pinch," she muttered. "But otherwise..."

Rikka blinked, suddenly realizing that Yuuta was leaning forward. He held her cheeks, his gentle touch leaving a comforting warmth on her skin. "Yuuta?"

He gave her the softest, kindest smile she had ever borne witness too. "This goes without saying, but... You are adorable, Rikka - the cutest girl in the world. And I thank my lucky stars that I'm your boyfriend."

The intense silence entered her mind, wiping away all thought in an instant. All that remained was the single drop of distilled memory, a replay of Yuuta's words, expanding outwards until it filled the entirety of her being. She nearly burst at the seams.

Yuuta blinked and frowned. "Uh... Are you okay...?"

Attempting to ignore the sense of vertigo she was feeling, Rikka raised her hand in a half-hearted salute. "A-okay..."

For a moment, Yuuta looked unconvinced, but his expression soon changed to amusement. With a smirk on his face, Yuuta put one elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. "Breathe, Rikka. Breathe."

Rikka lowered her head, burying her face in her arms. The dizziness was slowly getting better.

A few minutes passed.

"You know... I'm really happy you're not pushing me away anymore," Yuuta said. His melancholic tone was sobering. Rikka had a feeling she wouldn't like where he was going.

"I don't know. Sometimes, I feel selfish. Sometimes, I just wanna grab you by the shoulders and kiss you. Sometimes, I wanna go even further. And sometimes... it kills me to admit this, but... sometimes I just wanna ignore how you'd feel and just... _do_ those things...

"But I know that'd just hurt you... and hurting you is the last thing I wanna do, Rikka..."

If Yuuta had said it in any other tone than what he just used, Rikka would have probably fainted just from imagining it. But instead, all she felt an incredible ache in her heart that she couldn't quite explain.

"So... I guess I sorta just stopped trying... We hit a sort of status quo and I wanted to keep it going. The both of us were happy for the most part. I know you like me. I know I like you. We're living together and we have a perfectly functional relationship. Things didn't _need_ to be anything more than that. So I stopped trying..."

Rikka pursed her lips. "Are... are you not satisfied with our Lover's Pact?"

"No, I..." Yuuta almost replied but his voice died in his mouth as he began. He grimaced for a moment before shaking his head. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit frustrated. I wanna move things along, you know...?"

An empty silence passed.

Rikka shifted in her seat. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked, her voice hollow.

Yuuta sat up rested his hands on the table. "When you said you wanted to go at your own pace, I wanted to respect that. I... I don't know. It just felt kinda selfish to ask you to move things along faster than you wanted to... So I kept quiet..."

Rikka frowned. "It's human nature to be selfish. Every creature of the flesh has wants and desires. It's only natural to want to sate them."

"It just felt wrong, okay?"

Rikka opened her mouth to respond but no words formed in her mind. She had no choice but to shut her mouth and nod thoughtfully.

Silence followed after, stretching on and on. That ache in her heart stayed with her the entire time...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka entered her room and literally jumped in surprised when she turned on her light. Satone Shichimiya was sitting cross-legged on her bed, smiling mischievously at her. "Good evening, Mori Summer," Satone greeted.

Shinka relaxed her tensed up muscles and sighed. " _Good evening_ , Sophia," she muttered tiredly. "To what unholy force do I owe this unexpected visit? I need to purify it so you can't come in again.."

Satone cackled. "Nyahahaha! It is that dry wit that I've come to enjoy out of you, Mori Summer."

Shinka rolled her eyes. "Don't call me Mori Summer," she grumbled, knowing full well that it was futile.

Shinka closed the door behind her and dropped her bag onto her table. She then began to change out of her uniform. As she did so, Satone explained that Shinka's father was actually there to open the door for her. The man knew of Satone from when Shinka was in middle school. He knew she was a friend of his daughter.

Shinka nodded quietly as she unbuttoned her shirt. "He must've been running late if he was still here after school." She rolled her shoulders and let the button-up fall to the floor.

"It seemed that way," Satone commented with an amused smile. "He let me in, told me that there's food in the fridge, and ran off with toast in his mouth. He was like a school girl."

Shinka could only wince as she opened a drawer and picked out the first shirt she saw. " _Of course_ he'd do something like that," she growled. With a single smooth motion, she put on her shirt, pulling her hair out from the back. Her ornamental hair clip fell off shortly after.

During the entire exchange, Shinka was keenly aware of Satone's eyes on her, watching her with the most curious of gazes. Shinka shuddered. "Okay, this is getting creepy. What's with the look?"

There was a moment of silence.

"You've finally regained all that weight you lost," Satone said with a smirk.

"Get out," Shinka snapped, pointing to the door.

Satone raised her hands in surrender, though her expression remain unapologetic. "Tis a jest, milady. No insult intended." She then looked away, cheekily adding, "With your shapely body, a little gained weight is no threat."

Shinka rubbed her temples. "Sophia, stop making this weirder or so help me I will summon every spirit in this realm to curse you with eternal agony."

This earned another cackle from Sophia.

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Shinka set down two cups of tea on the table as the quiet drone of the microwave continued in the background. She then took a seat at the kitchen table across from Satone. Satone, being her usual self, snaked her arm around Shinka's as they began to take a sip. "Cheers," she said, much to Shinka's chagrin. They drank their tea with their arms interlocked.

"So how have the two of you been?" Satone asked as they separated and settled in their seats. "It's been a good two weeks. I'm curious to see if anything's happened. I would have checked on you more often but I've had many obligations since the time we last saw each other."

Shinka didn't answer immediately, choosing to instead take another sip of her drink. As she did so, she quietly noted Satone's blatant disregard for privacy. She understood how ironic it was but she felt mildly irked by Satone's nosiness.

_This must be what Yuuta feels whenever I pester him..._

Shinka set down her tea and addressed Satone. "I'm pretty happy, all things considered. We've been pretty busy too, though. Not really much time to go dating when you have exams looming in the distance." Shinka then suppressed a wince as she added, "That's not even taking into account all the college entrance exams..."

Satone leaned back in her chair as she took in that sobering change of topic. She then gave Shinka a lopsided smile. "It's not exactly a secret that you're in the running for valedictorian. You're sure to earn honors at the very least."

Shinka rested her chin her her palm. "Yeah. I suppose," she replied dryly.

"I'm sure I would not be the first person to tell you this, but it is in your best interest to not overly stress yourself about college entrance exams. It will be a challenge but it is something I'm certain you can overcome. It will not be as large of a hurdle as you think it will be."

Shinka nodded thoughtfully. "You think so, huh...?"

In truth, Satone _was_ the first person to tell her that. Shinka had not exactly been vocal about her worries. She had a feeling that Sanae, Yuuta, and Rikka would say something along that same lines if she were to ever speak to them about it. Still, it was comforting to know her friends were confident in her abilities.

A moment of silence passed before Shinka spoke once more. "I've been wondering, Satone... why are you so invested in my and Sanae's relationship? Besides the obvious fact that we're both girls, I mean."

Satone gave her another lopsided smile. "Hmm. That's certainly an interesting question. I'll answer it with another question: Why are you so invested in Yuuta and Rikka's relationship? I don't believe our reasons are much different."

Shinka blinked in surprise at how her question was reversed towards her. And indeed it was an interesting question. Why _was_ she so invested in Yuuta and Rikka's relationship? She could have sworn that was a conversation she had with Yuuta a long time ago. What did she answer back then?

A wry smile was Shinka's only reaction as it came to her. Honestly, she almost didn't want to admit it to Satone. Still, as embarrassing as it was, she had a feeling that the comparison between her own and Satone's fascinations were accurate.

Shinka pursed her lips. "I was just a lonely girl, living my love life vicariously through the two of them..." She shifted in her seat. "I guess that means you..."

Satone gave her a sad smile. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the microwave drone being replaced with a slow beeping. It was done heating the food. Satone turned to Shinka. "You should get that," she said, with a smirk.

Shinka stared at Satone's face for a moment before tearing her gaze away. The immediate change in demeanor was disconcerting. She got up and went to get the food.

Satone was also a lonely girl living her love life vicariously through Shinka and Sanae. Shinka could tell that she was correct in her assumption, though whatever satisfaction she'd normally feel just wasn't there.

"Why us?" Shinka asked as she removed the two lunch boxes from the microwave. "Why not Yuuta and Rikka?"

There was a laugh from Satone which felt surprisingly genuine. "Need I tell you, Nibutani?"

"Yuuta Togashi," Shinka said, dropping one of lunch boxes onto the table in front of Satone. The box bounced once but no food was spilled. "I thought you were over him."

"I am," Satone said. She then closed her eyes solemnly. "But he was my first love, Nibutani. That stays with you forever - makes its mark on your soul. You yourself said so all those years ago."

"A mark on your soul," Shinka repeated in whisper, the words returning to her. " _The power of love always has a price. And this is the price of that power in it's simplest and purest form. Your first love stays with you. Stays even when memories are lost and the cycle of life and death passes. It makes a mark on your soul..._ " She then chuckled. "After all these years, I still remember it, word for word. Sanae'd be ecstatic if she were here right now..."

Satone's eye shined. "Yeah... She would."

"Anyway, we should eat. You didn't microwave this food just so we can let it get cold again."

Even as they began to eat, Shinka couldn't help but think to her relationship with Sanae. _Your first love with stay with you..._

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Yuuta sighed and put his handheld on the table next to him. As he let himself fall backwards into his bed and stare at the ceiling, he couldn't help but feel bored.

Technically, he should have been studying. In less than a month, he'd be taking his final exams for the spring term. But studying was what he'd been doing for the past week. He needed to do something else. Video games were obviously not working. Nor was he willing to wake Rikka and Kuzuha up by watching TV. He supposed he could boot up his laptop and watch some videos online but he knew from experience that he'd get bored of that quickly. Really, the only thing he had even the slightest desire of doing was to go out for a walk - and even then he was reluctant to do so.

Truth be told, he was only really bored because he just couldn't get engaged with whatever it was he was doing. He kept getting distracted by the sour taste in his mouth left by the end of his and Rikka's conversation from earlier. Just thinking about it made him grimace.

_"It's human nature to be selfish. Every creature of the flesh has wants and desires. It's only natural to want to sate them."_

Those words echoed in his mind as he remembered them once more. It was an unexpectedly mature thing for her to say. But then, somehow he wasn't all that surprised to hear that kind of maturity from Rikka. She had grown up a lot in the near three years they'd been together. She just didn't show it.

Yuuta sighed deeply. "Wants and desires, huh?" He felt his pulse quicken as impure thoughts entered his mind. He shook those thoughts away, covering his face with his arms. "Dammit, Rikka," he muttered.

A knock on the door jolted Yuuta out of his stupor. He sat up and blinked, just in time for another knock and the sound of Rikka's voice, muffled through the door. "It's me."

Yuuta released a breath he only just realized he was holding in. "Come in," he said.

Entering the room, Rikka gingerly closed the door behind her. "About earlier," she said, her voice low and nervous.

Yuuta frowned. Already he didn't like where the conversation was going. "Why don't we talk about this in the kitchen?" He stood up and began to walk to the door but Rikka stayed standing where she was, blocking the way. "Uh... Rikka? What's wrong?"

Rikka shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. I would just like to have this conversation here instead..."

Yuuta almost didn't want to ask. "Why?"

There was the sound of Rikka locking the door. She looked up at him, a deep blush on her face. "I'd like to remain free of eavesdroppers."

Yuuta shifted his weight awkwardly. "Okay? Kuzuha's probably asleep anyway, though. We could probably talk in the kitchen without waking her."

"I'm sorry," Rikka suddenly said, completely ignoring Yuuta's suggestion.

Yuuta blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I'd like to apologize for just leaving the conversation earlier. I... I wasn't sure what to say earlier so I said nothing..."

Yuuta nodded thoughtfully, though he had to suppress a wince. It was understandable that she'd feel that way. It didn't mean Yuuta wasn't still upset about what she did. He knew it didn't really make sense to hold on to that feeling but he couldn't exactly force himself to feel differently.

He sighed and smiled wryly. "It's fine, Rikka. Just give me some time and I'll get over-"

"It's not fine!" Rikka asserted, cutting Yuuta off. " _You_ may get over it but I know _I_ won't! Let me do this, Yuuta!"

Rikka pulled off her eye patch and showed that she was not wearing her contact lens. "Make no mistake, Dark Flame Master. I still hold all my powers. But I need to look at this with eyes unclouded... And so should you..." She stared pleadingly. "Please, Yuuta..."

Yuuta felt a certain stillness settle in the room - a silence so empty that his ears rang from the lack of sound. It was as if time was waiting for his answer.

He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Are you sure you don't want to do this in the kitchen?" he asked flatly. He received no answer. "Alright then..."

He and Rikka sat across each other on his bed, faces serious. Rikka kept her head low and said nothing for a long time. Yuuta also stayed quiet, calmly waiting for Rikka to finally speak.

"Just under a year ago," she began, "I tried to kiss you..."

Yuuta nodded. He definitely remembered it. They were right on the cusp of touching lips when they were interrupted. They almost kissed.

"And we _should_ have kissed," Rikka insisted. "I was so ready for it, Yuuta. In that moment, I felt happier than you would ever believe. And we were _so close_! Even until now, I've been imagining what it would be like and it puts a smile to my face."

"But... We _didn't_ kiss... And every time I think about that, regret and frustration well up inside of me, threatening to take me over..."She looked at her hands, rubbing her wrist awkwardly. "I tried to bring it up a second time, you know. I tried a lot. And every time I tried, I'd either lose my nerve or I'd get interrupted again. At some point I thought that maybe it was our fate - that we would forever be like this... Eventually... I guess I gave up too..."

A look of despair fell on her face. "But then... hearing you say what you said earlier..." She buried her face into her hands shook her head. "We've both given up, Yuuta. _We've both given up_."

Yuuta felt a stab of pain in his heart at the sound of Rikka's voice cracking. Every single fiber of his being screamed at him to hold her in his arms which he unquestioningly did. He could feel her shaking from suppressed sobs. She was about to cry. And if he were being honest with himself, he knew he was about to cry as well.

Or perhaps he would laugh. Because when he thought about it, their situation was pretty funny.

They both gave up? _That_ was their only take away from this? Was it some kind of sick joke? That was so stupid. That was the stupidest thing he had ever heard! And they called themselves lovers? That was absurd! So foolish that it was hilarious! It was absolutely... hilarious...

And yet neither of them were laughing...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

Once again, Yuuta found himself lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The only difference this time was how Rikka was lying right next to him, doing the same thing. He knew for a fact that they were both exhausted. They both had cried until no more tears fell, leaving them feeling numb and sluggish.

And yet, even with all that, it came with a feeling of clarity and peace he didn't quite understand. He felt like he was floating in an endless ocean on nothingness where all his worries and fears had drained away into. It was a nice feeling.

Yuuta sensed Rikka move slightly on the bed. She had rolled to her side to face him. "Yuuta," she murmured.

Yuuta also rolled to face her. "Yes?"

"I don't wanna give up."

Yuuta pursed his lips. "Neither do I, Rikka. But something has to change. We can't always be like this, waiting on the other to act. We need to do _something_ at the very least." He then scowled and looked away. "I... I'm not forcing you to do anything just... I... well..."

Yuuta silently cursed himself for getting flustered like that. He knew he wasn't wrong and he could tell that Rikka wasn't offended but it still felt bad to stumble over his words.

Rikka giggled and put a hand on his face. "Yuuta," she said, snapping Yuuta out of his internal scolding. She smiled timidly. "We should kiss..."

Yuuta blinked, taking a moment to parse what she just said. When he did, he nodded quietly, also smiling. "Yeah... we should..."

A moment of silence passed...

Rikka closed her eyes and shifted forward...

Yuuta did the same...

...

Their lips met...

...

They pulled away and opened their eyes. Rikka was smiling sadly. "That was a little anticlimactic," she admitted. Yuuta was inclined to agree.

"Well, we waited a year for it. We sort of set ourselves up for disappointment."

Rikka nodded thoughtfully. "I guess we did..." She then looked to Yuuta with a hopeful stare. "Can we go again?"

Instead of replying, Yuuta moved forward and kissed her once more. When he pulled away, Rikka merely blinked in surprised, her face growing redder by the moment.

"One more?" Rikka asked, wrapping her arms around Yuuta's head. Yuuta slipped his hands around her waist and happily delivered.

"Again," Rikka breathed as he pulled away for the third time. "Please?"

"Tonight, we go as many times as you want."

Their night continued on like that until they both fell to exhaustion...

**CHUUNIBYOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've come to the profound realization that I write characters with chuunibyou as people who speak in supernatural metaphors. On a slightly more on-topic note, how was that chapter?
> 
> As I said in the previous a/n, the Yuuta/Rikka scene that was supposed to be in the last chapter was put into this one. I found that it actually worked quite nicely with how things in this chapter were supposed to go. Although, it does make the middle part with Shinka and Satone feel sort of out of place. I don't really wanna remove it so the mood whiplash stays.
> 
> The development of Yuuta and Rikka's relationship in this chapter was borne out of two things. Firstly, it was because they've taken a back seat to Shinka and Sanae. Yes, they are the focus of this story but Yuuta and Rikka are important as well. Demoting them to just filler put there to amuse the reader is a disservice to their character Secondly, it is because I recently rewatched the show and once again feel a sorry disappointment with the ending to season 2.
> 
> In truth, this scene has been brewing in my head since chapter 12. It was just a vague idea of what I want to do with Yuuta and Rikka at that point but that's where it started. That being said, I can't really say I'm completely satisfied with it. Don't get me wrong, I am still proud of my work, but I know that it could be better. I just wish I knew what to do to make it better...
> 
> I didn't really talk about what happened in the scene. Honestly, I don't know what to say other than I was taking inspiration from Toradora for certain parts of it. Other than that, I've got nothing.
> 
> Anyway, I'll end this note here. I hope you enjoyed. I'll see you in the next chapter.


	18. Take Aways from Things Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, yo. On the plate for this session: more character interaction and mood whiplash! Enjoy if you can.

Shinka's train ride was unbearably crowded that Monday morning. It seemed as if everyone in the city decided to take the train at roughly the same time as her. There were so many people crammed into the train cars that she could only be impressed with the train's ventilation that no one had passed out from asphyxiation yet. She was thankful that she had managed to acquire a seat on the bench. Had she been forced to stand, she doubted she would have survived.

Getting caught in the morning rush hour wasn't something Shinka was entirely used to. While she wouldn't necessarily say she had _never_ experienced it, she usually woke up and went to school early enough that she didn't need to worry about getting crushed by the throngs of people on their daily commutes. It was a terrible coincidence that exactly that had happened to her that morning.

Suffice it to say the the commute was draining. So draining in fact that first thing she did when she reached her classroom was collapse in her seat. She spent the next fifteen minutes toeing the line between the world of dreams and reality. Only when Yuuta arrived and poked her in the shoulder did she stir once more.

"What is it," she growled, sitting up.

He whispered in her ear and immediately her eyes went wide. She then stood up, took him by the arm, and dragged him out of the room, ignoring his protests. Once she found that she didn't need to pull very hard to get Yuuta to follow, she let go of said arm and led him to the stairwell.

She turned to Yuuta, a hand on her hip. "Okay, run that by me again," she said, trying hard not to sound delirious.

Yuuta scratched his cheeks. "We kissed," he muttered.

Repeating those words sent a wave of excitement through Shinka that she couldn't quite explain. She could ascribe any number emotions to what she was currently feeling and they would all be correct in some way. She was certainly _proud_ of Yuuta and Rikka. Excited as well for what the future of their relationship entailed. There was also joy, relief, and... and just a little bit of sadness for some reason.

Shinka sighed and shot him a smirk. "So, how do you feel, lover boy."

A wry smile tugged on Yuuta's lips as he leaned against the wall. "I don't know what I feel, but it feels good."

"When did it first happen?"

"Friday."

"Three days ago," Shinka breathed. She crossed her arms. "Why didn't you call me about this? Or send me an email? Or something?" She palmed her face. "Stars above, this has been something I've been looking forward to since you two started dating! I'm livid you didn't try to contact me about this earlier!"

Yuuta scowled, grabbing hold of Shinka's shoulders. "Nibutani," he began in a calm and controlled voice. "I'm gonna need you to take a deep breath and count to ten."

Shinka blinked in confusion. Deep breaths? What was he even talking abou-

" _Inhale_ ," he continued, maintaining eye contact. Shinka did so. "Hold... now exhale..."

Shinka sighed and gingerly removed Yuuta's hands from her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to explode like that. I don't know what came over me..."

"Are you feeling better?"

Shinka replied with a nod. "I still want my questions answered, though. I know you're not obligated to tell me, but this kind of thing is pretty big. Usually you end up telling me about something like this over the phone so I just thought... well..."

As she trailed off, Shinka found that she could no longer meet Yuuta's gaze. She looked at her feet, only managing to shoot rare glances up at him. He didn't look angry at the very least.

"To be honest, I haven't even really caught up to it yet. When it happened, it was right on the heels of a really big fight." He shifted his weight. "Well... _fight_ might not be the right word for it but... I don't really wanna talk about it - at least not here..."

Shinka glanced at the bottom of the stairs and saw a pair of underclassmen were peeking worriedly over the guard rail. Upon noticing Shinka's gaze, they quickly retreated down one floor. She pursed her lips.

"Lunch at the club room," Shinka said. "Would that be okay to you?"

Yuuta nodded. "We should head back. First period is about to start..."

Shinka hummed in acknowledgement as they returned to the classroom.

* * *

Classes went by at an unremarkable pace but the school bell inevitably rang, signaling the start of lunch break.

As Shinka began putting away her things, she saw Rikka walk up to Yuuta's desk with a notable spring in her step. Her positivity was infectious as Shinka found herself smiling. Even Yuuta looked quite happy when they exited the classroom - a far cry from his nervous demeanor when he and Shinka re-entered the classroom that morning.

She let those idle observations fall to the wayside and pulled out her lunch box from her bag. She stood and followed the other two out the door.

"Nibutani, what are you having for lunch today?"

The first words spoken when they arrived at the club room came from Rikka who sat next to Shinka in the corner as they both waited for Yuuta to set up the table.

"Just some egg salad. Nothing special."

Rikka nodded. "Hey... uh... mine has tomatoes. Will you-"

"Nope," Shinka said, turning a nose at Rikka's request before she could even finish making it. "You're gonna have to get over your hatred for tomatoes if you're gonna keep eating Togashi's cooking. Either that or start cooking your own meals."

Rikka whimpered. "I'm not allowed to cook, though..."

"Ever heard of the term _Dark Hotpot_?" Yuuta asked, taking his seat at the table.

Shinka raised an eyebrow as she and Rikka also took their seats. "Do I even _want_ to know what this is about?" she asked dryly.

"She tried making a hotpot with a bunch of weird ingredients. She says she loves it but me and Kuzuha could barely stomach it. I remember tasting chocolate in it?" He shuddered. "Uhg. It was nasty."

"Yuuutaaa~!"

"Oh, don't give me that look." Yuuta rolled his eyes and unpacked two lunch boxes, sliding one of them to Rikka. "You know we only buy enough groceries to reliably feed three people. Unless you want to use your own money to buy ingredients _for yourself_ , we won't have enough for two different people's cooking."

Another whimper came from Rikka as she opened her lunch box. Sure enough, there was a side of tomatoes. She sighed in resignation.

Shinka chuckled and unpacked her own lunchbox. "Something tells me that you've had this conversation before."

"You have no idea."

Conversation paused when they began eating, all of them opting to finish their meals before resuming. In that time, a certain tension had crept into the room - a heaviness that seemed to suppress all sounds from the outside. When they finally spoke once more, their voices were like knives to their ears in the silence.

"So," Shinka said. Both Yuuta and Rikka seemed to recoil. "Togashi, before we pick up where we left off this morning, I'd like you to clarify something for me. Does that thing you're about to tell me warrant the atmosphere? Because this silence is deafening."

Yuuta shifted in his seat. "It _is_ kind of a big deal but... yeah, I don't really like how tense it feels in here either." He laughed nervously.

They all took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"What is this even about?" Rikka asked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her palms. "Is it about last Friday?" Upon Yuuta nodding in reply, her cheeks reddened. "Oh." She fidgeted. "Does... Does she know about... you know..."

Yuuta and Shinka shared a look of amusement. What an adorable reaction.

"I know you kissed. I'm asking about what happened _before that_."

There was a visible transition of facial expressions from childish embarrassment to a stoic sadness. "Oh," she repeated numbly.

Yuuta sighed loudly. "Sitting around talking about how we're going to talk about this is getting us nowhere. Rikka," he turned to her. "This is your call. Nibutani wants to know but she doesn't need to. Do I tell her or not?"

Rikka frowned as she regarded the question. She glanced between Yuuta and Shinka, her expression looking more and more helpless with every passing second. She seemed to scowl at her her own indecision.

"If you're _really_ unsure about this, you could always just say no," Shinka said helpfully. "Just say the word and I'll back off."

"This wouldn't even be a problem if you weren't so nosy," Yuuta grumbled.

"Shut it, Dork-Lame Master."

"There's that nick-name again. The play on words isn't as funny as you think it is, _Mori Summer_."

Shinka glared.

The conversation continued on its train of tangents and arguments for a few more minutes before they finally got back on topic. In the end, Rikka agreed to let Shinka know. Yuuta then recounted the events of the previous Friday. The story was shorter than Shinka expected.

"You guys seem to be treating this like some sort of tragedy that neither of you talk about," she noted. "And personally, I'd say it's a little bit unhealthy..."

Yuuta averted his gaze. "So it is..."

"Hmm." Shinka leaned back and sat in a more comfortable position. "Let me tell you two a story...

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who had a friend she cared for dearly who in turn cared for her back. They both showed their care through fighting. They fought every day for years.

"But then, one day, the girl got injured during their fights. Her friend felt unbelievably guilty and decided that they'd never fight again. When the girl got better, she expected that their fighting would resume... But it didn't... They didn't speak to each other for a long time...

"During that time, they both thought hard on what the other meant to them. They realized how much they cared for each other. They realized how much they valued their friendship. And they realized that they weren't happy apart as they were. They decided that they wanted things to change.

"So they met one night and bared their hearts to each other. After that, things _did_ change. Now that they were back together, they were closer than ever before. Their bond, stronger. They felt the happiest they'd every felt.

"Whenever the girl thought back to the injury, it still upset her. But it also made her happy because she knew that she'd never have gotten to where she was if it hadn't happened to her. She eventually learned to be grateful for it despite everything. In the end, she lived happier for it."

Shinka sighed and leaned over the table, steepling her fingers. "I'm sure you already know this but you can't just pretend the bad stuff never happened. Sweeping it under the rug will only give you grief in the future. It's better that you take care of it now." She closed her eyes and spoke with finality. "The past is in the past. Just take whatever good came out of it and let the rest of it go."

In the silence following Shinka's words, the bell for the end of break rang. There was a short pause as the three let the situation finally catch up to them.

"We should go," Shinka said, packing up her lunch box.

Yuuta voiced his acknowledgement with a grunt as he passed his lunch box to Rikka and began dragging the table back to the corner. "Go on ahead. We'll catch up," he said. Rikka hummed in agreement.

Shinka nodded and made her way back to her classroom.

* * *

Shinka sat at her place at the club room table, boredly watching the back and forth between Sanae and Yuuta and Rikka as she continued her usual study sessions. The session for that day wasn't quite as successful as the previous ones.

"You're both trying my patience. I've explained this problem three times now. If you still cannot comprehend it then I'm afraid I can no longer help you."

Leaning into her arm, Shinka released a yawn. Watching Yuuta and Rikka struggle against Sanae's surprisingly strict study regiment had been amusing for the first few days, but after three weeks, it had started to get tiring. Shinka had half a mind of just up and leaving.

As Yuuta and Rikka continued the arduous task of completing a relatively complicated physics problem, Sanae slid closer to Shinka. She then unpromptedly slumped towards Shinka's shoulders. "Why do I bother with those two," she asked tiredly.

Shinka hummed as she tilted her head to the side. "I've been wondering that since you started this whole studying thing. Don't you remember how I tried this last year? I gave up after a week."

Sanae reached up and repeatedly poked Shinka in the cheek. "I was under the impression that I had more patience than you." This earn an annoyed grumble from Shinka who seized the finger and began bending it backwards. Sanae quickly began tapping Shinka's arm. "I give. I give."

Shinka chuckled as they exchanged stares. "I'm inclined to agree. Three weeks without complaining. I don't know whether to be impressed or disappointed."

Sanae smirked. "It is that sort of paradoxical duality that defines our relationship, does it not?"

Shinka smiled wryly. "Something like that."

A moment of silence passed where the only sound Shinka was aware of was that of pencils against paper, Sanae's soft breathing, and her own heartbeat. Under the table, Sanae snaked her hand to touch Shinka's which Shinka closed and held quietly. The sides of her lips tugged upward as she savored warmth of contact.

"Do... do you still feel guilty about the accident?" Shinka whispered.

"I... I do... I hurt you Shinka. No amount of forgiveness from you, me, or even the gods themselves will make that fact weigh any lighter on me..."

Shinka nodded thoughtfully. "Would you ever go back and change things...? Make it so I wouldn't get hurt...?"

There was a pause before Sanae answered again. "If I could still be together with you? I would in a heart beat... Otherwise...? I don't know..."

Shinka closed her eyes and gave Sanae's hand a gentle squeeze. "All things considered, the way we are right now isn't so bad. I like how we are..."

Sanae chuckled and squeezed back "No... I guess it isn't... For what it's worth, I like how we are too..."

"What are you two looking at," Shinka growled upon noticing Yuuta and Rikka's repeated glances towards them. "Get back to work."

The two did as they were told, though Shinka could have sworn she saw Yuuta shoot her a weird look before he buried his face back into his notes - a raised eyebrow before a cheeky smirk. Shinka could only smile wryly. _Yes, lover boy. You heard exactly what you think you just heard._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter than the previous chapters but still within my usual chapter length. I hope the mood whiplash wasn't terrible.
> 
> I'm actually quite proud of those short exchanges between Yuuta, Shinka, and Rikka in the club room during lunch. Most of them are actually random scraps I had written in the past few months that I didn't know what to do with. It's quite convenient that I managed to make use of the dark-hot-pot and the dork-lame-master snippets.
> 
> I don't really know what else to say about this chapter so I guess I'll end it here.  
> Thank you for reading. Until next chapter.


	19. Shows of Affection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, internet, I have returned. And once again, I present you with romance and character interactions. Enjoy if you can.

It was the end of a gruelingly mundane week confined to a class room. Saturday classes were still inbound, as was the ever approaching threat of exams still looming in the distance. However, the worst of Rikka's troubles had passed - at least until the next gauntlet began on the following Monday. Friday marked the beginning of her weekly respite from the monotony. Such was her life.

It had been a week since her first kiss and the thrill had not yet subsided. Something about that night when she and Yuuta first met lips had awoken something in Rikka that had not been prominent before. Nearly every moment of her day was now spent in urgent need of some form of physical affection. The mere brushing of shoulders and touching of pinkies that she had settled with for most of her relationship with Yuuta no longer satisfied her. Unfortunately, she was averse to such displays of affection. For a while, it had been war between her intense needs and her crippling self-consciousness. Only when she bitterly swallowed her embarrassment did she move on to fully holding hands, actively trying to cuddle, and perhaps even the occasional kiss.

And much to her surprise, there was little resistance to be had. The first step had been the hardest and once she had overcome that hurdle, the act of skinship between herself and Yuuta felt as natural to her as breathing.

She'd say it was even supernatural. Every moment of intimacy was simultaneously a surge of excitable energy that sent her heart racing as well as a gentle wellspring of calm that flowed through her. It was a strange but not unpleasant feeling.

"Tanabata is in two weeks, isn't it?" Rikka asked idly as she waited for the train to arrive with the other members of her club.

Her statement was met with no reply as the other three were currently in a heated argument over a topic that was of no interest to her. A tired sigh escaped her lips as she took hold of Yuuta's hand. She then resumed her tuning out of their prattle.

The Star Festival of Tanabata would fall in ten days. It was said to be the day of meeting between two star-crossed lovers whose fates kept them apart. On that day, the energies of the earth and sky would harmonize, resulting in the generation of an overwhelming amount of power. It was that power that would bolster the strength of Rikka and Yuuta's Lovers' Pact. Should they will it, their bond would grow ever closer.

She could almost see the scene in her head, she and Yuuta together that night, bathed in ethereal blue light, breathing in the mana saturated air, every cell in their body thrumming with power. They would kiss and the entire world would become still, enveloped in a darkness that only they were aware of. Rikka smiled slightly at the thought.

Of course it was all in her imagination. Seen through the lens of chuunibyou, a romantic premise for a date could be made ever more romantic. Her only problem was actually coming out and asking for it.

"What was Rikka saying again? Something about Tanabata?"

With rather serendipitous timing, Rikka tuned back into the other three's conversation right as Yuuta addressed her.

Rikka nodded. "Yes. I believe it is in exactly ten days from today."

"Now that you mention it," Yuuta said, trailing off.

"Do you have any plans for us, Takanashi?" Shinka asked from her place on the bench. "Because if you don't, I may have something we can all do together."

Rikka felt Yuuta's hand twitch in her hold. "I get the distinct feeling that you plan to make us do grunt work again," he muttered dryly. "Can't we just go to a festival and enjoy ourselves?"

Rikka glanced at Shinka who was looking away innocently. "It's good money," she said simply. "Why not use an hour or two of your day to earn some cash instead goofing off? It's not like you have anything better to do."

"Point," Yuuta grumbled in annoyance.

"Well, Takanashi. Any plans?"

Rikka's mouth moved faster than her mind had time to catch up. By the time she realized what she was saying, she had already said it. "I wish to go on a date," she told them with the bluntness of a heavy mace.

A moment of silence passed between the four of them.

The first one to speak was Shinka whose expression was the odd combination of amused, impressed, and disappointed. "Welp, Togashi, I think you just killed two birds with one stone. You don't need to go to work and you get to spend time with your girlfriend. I'd say that's a win by all accounts."

Yuuta squeezed Rikka's hand and sighed. "Nibutani... please shut up," he said tiredly, pressing a palm against his face. Shinka casually raised her hands in surrender.

Yuuta then turned to Rikka with a wry smile. "Rikka, why do you keep throwing these curve balls?"

Rikka made a show of suppressing her laughter. "My powers are of chaos and darkness. While I have quite a measure of control over them, there will be times when they bleed out and influence my actions, causing me to do something unpredictable. I'm sure you're aware of this, Dark Flame Master."

"Hmm." Yuuta looked unconvinced as he slowly shook his head. The wry smile remained as he gave Rikka's hand another brief squeeze. "So you are and so it is," he muttered.

"Shinka Nibutani. I would like to go on a date as well," Sanae suddenly said, jumping off the bench and onto her feet. "We shall be swimming in power on that day. If Master wishes to make use of that power to strengthen her pact with the Dark Flame Master then it is only fitting that we do that same with our own pact. What say you?"

Shinka, crossed her arms, closing one eye. "I'm gonna take a guess and say you just want to goof off as well."

Sanae twitched for a moment before cackling. She pointed a finger dramatically at Shinka. "HAHAHA! You assume wrong, Shinka Nibutani. It is of utmost importance to me that we perform that ritual on that day. To call that _'goofing off'_ is a grave offence to the pact we share."

"If you're about to ask me to apologize, I'm afraid you're out of luck."

"Of course not! You are far too prideful to apologize for something such as this."

Rikka watched the usual banter between Shinka and Sanae unfold before eventually losing interest. Their voices faded away just as the world itself fell to darkness. The only sensation she was aware of was the warmth of Yuuta's hands wrapped around her own hand. She took a deep breath and savored the feeling.

* * *

 

Almost immediately after arriving home, Shinka collapsed into her bed, letting the soft folds of her blanket pull her deeper into its embrace. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she did so.

The week had not been as stressful nor as tiring as many of her previous weeks had been. She could not pin-point the exact reason that it was so. She _did_ have some suspicions, though. Such suspicions pointed towards the weight at the side of her bed, causing a notable dip in her mattress.

"Shinka."

At the sound of Sanae's voice, Shinka rolled over, immediately zeroing-in on the uncharacteristically timid expression on her face. For a moment, she merely stared, waiting for Sanae to continue speaking.

In the silence, Sanae shifted on the bed, positioning herself overtop of Shinka. Sanae said her name once more, the shakiness now gone. "Shinka. I'm going to kiss you now," she said.

And so she did.

Ever since the previous week, the two would passionately lock lips whenever they had any time to themselves. There was a certain hunger they had for each other that compelled them to do so. Of course, they had the decency and self-control to refrain from doing it in public, but the moment they were alone, it was nigh immediate that they would kiss.

Among other things...

The two were remained connected as much as possible, breaking apart solely for air before leaning back in as quickly as they pulled away. Their hands trailed across each other's body, groping around in a manic desire to touch and be touched. Their vests were discarded and their shirts unbuttoned soon after to aid in their want for skin contact. The heat of the other's breath mingling with their own, the feeling of their chests pressed together in an effort to get even closer, the sound of the other's gasps and moans - it was all intoxicating.

"Shinka," Sanae said as they pulled away, panting heavily. Shinka could see the desire in her eyes, but could also note a measure of fear.

"What is it?" Shinka breathed, putting a gentle hand on Sanae's cheek.

Sanae licked her lips hungrily. "I want you, Shinka."

Shinka's already tingling body felt a static jolt at those words. Did Shinka hear that right? Was Sanae Dekomori asking for sex?

"I want you too," Shinka said, running her hand from Sanae's cheek all the way down to her chest. Her mouth turned to a razor thin smile as she felt Sanae shiver under her fingers. "All of you."

Sanae visibly grit her teeth as indecision seared itself into her eyes. "I... I don't think I'm ready yet..." she said, her voice trembling. "I really want it, Shinka... I really really want it..."

"Shhh, it's fine," Shinka said soothingly. "I want it too, Sanae... but it can wait..." Her razor thin smile remained. "Until then, set aside your troubles and give me your love."

Shinka pulled Sanae into another kiss which would continue on for many more minutes.

* * *

 

Yuuta tapped his foot as Rikka spoke on the phone.

"The Priestess wishes to speak with you," Rikka had told him. Understandably, he had moved to take the phone from her. However, Rikka had stopped him with a frantic waving of her hand. "Not yet! There are things I must speak to her about first!" And then she locked herself in her room.

Yuuta felt more than a little impatient. Granted, that impatience was solely because Rikka had told him to wait for her to finish. She probably had the idea that he would be busy and not be able to speak to Touka had she not preemptively warned him of Touka's order to speak to him.

"Or, this could be Touka's idea all along," he grumbled as he continued staring at the door to Rikka's bedroom.

Touka Takanashi was... an interesting woman. She was cunning and competent, exuding an intimidating aura that filled a room in the instant she stepped in it. She had a history of blackmail, breaking and entering, and violence born from indulging kids in their battle fantasies. It would be just like her to inform him of an obligation that was vaguely immediate enough that he'd couldn't do anything. That it would annoy him would be reason enough for her.

But at the same time, the brief glimpses that Yuuta saw of her softer side suggested that behind the stoic glare was a much kinder and gentler girl. Of course, Yuuta never really stopped to imagine it. He was well aware that she kept a mask of strictness and antagonism for Rikka's sake and he doubted he'd ever get to see anything else. No use fantasizing about the girl behind the facade.

As luck would have it, the door to Rikka's bedroom opened right as he finished that thought. "The Priestess will speak to you now."

Yuuta couldn't figure out what emotions were in Rikka's voice as she handed the phone to him. She seemed almost deliberately stoic. It was unsettling... but not unusual - Rikka had gotten much better at hiding her mood from him if she deemed it necessary. Rikka was definitely hiding something.

Yuuta brought the phone up to his ear. "Hello? Yuuta Togashi speaking."

Touka's voice had the same cold sharpness as he remembered. " _Good evening, Yuuta. It's been a long time. How have you been?_ "

Yuuta shifted his weight nervously. "Uh... what is this about, Touka?"

There was a pause on the other line. " _Straight to the point, I see._ " Touka sighed, filling Yuuta's ear with static. " _Rikka tells me you've kissed._ "

Yuuta went wide-eyed, needing to steady himself on the table for a moment. "I... uh..."

" _Save yourself the embarrassment and just tell me if you're happy with your relationship._ "

"Yes," Yuuta said almost automatically. "I... uh... yes, I'm..." As he fumbled with picking up the pieces to his answer, he found himself smiling foolishly. "Yeah... I feel really happy... It's hard to describe how happy I feel, to be honest..."

There was more static from the other line. " _I see._ "

There was a long silence, causing Yuuta to wonder if Touka was still in the call. "Hello...?"

" _I've said this to Rikka but I suppose you should know too. I plan to return to Japan during summer break. Am I allowed to stay in your place?_ "

Yuuta blinked. "Well... I guess we have room, but..." He scratched his head.

" _There is a reason I'm planning this a month in advance. It doesn't need to be your apartment. It would just be more convenient for me. I will call again in a week or so. If you can figure it out before then, I'd appreciate it._ "

"I... I'll discuss it with my mother and Kuzuha."

" _You do that,_ " Touka said. " _I suppose it's time for me to say goodbye for now. You don't need to give the phone back to Rikka. We've already said goodbye to each other._ "

Yuuta nodded, knowing full well that Touka couldn't see the gesture. "Goodbye then. We'll wait for your next call."

" _Yeah... and Yuuta...?_ "

Yuuta swallowed. "What...?"

" _Congratulations on finally reaching first base._ "

With that, Touka Takanashi hung up, leaving Yuuta with an uncomfortable heat in his cheeks.

* * *

 

Their make-out session had been cut short by the grumbling of stomachs. Despite the strength of their hunger for each other's touch and taste, the strength of their hunger for food and drink had easily overpowered it, forcing them to put the session on hold for dinner.

And dinner, of course, passed by in a flash. So too was the washing of dishes. It took not even thirty minutes since they parted before they were connected again.

Sanae was the one who eventually broke away completely. "Let me breathe," she gasped, rolling off of Shinka. A satisfied smile marked her face. "Your lust for me is insatiable."

Shinka let out a low chuckle, also out of breath. "I could say the same for you. Every time you pull away for air, you come back and seem to push me down even harder."

"Do not say the like you do not enjoy it. I try very hard to make you happy, thank you very much. _You_ are just ungrateful."

Shinka would have laughed if she wasn't panting so hard. As it was, she merely grinned. " _Ungrateful_? Now listen here you little shit, I do everything - absolutely _everything_ \- I can to return what you give me in kind. If that's not gratitude, then I don't know what is."

Sanae responded with a similarly cheeky grin. The two stared at each other lovingly for a time.

"It's time for you to leave, isn't it?" Shinka said as she sat up. She turned to the window and frowned. "It's already dark out."

Sanae sighed. "So it is." She made no move the stand up or even sit up. "Would it be alright if I slept over tonight?"

Shinka smiled tiredly. "You've said that every day this week."

"But today is Friday, is it not? Surely-"

"Maybe tomorrow," Shinka said, cutting Sanae off. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep with you in my bed tonight."

"Have you no self-control, woman?" Sanae scoffed jokingly. Her expression quickly softened. "Although... I might not be able to sleep either if you're with me... Recently, you've been making me feel... _restless_ for some reason..."

"You and me both, pal," Shinka said, putting a hand over Sanae's. "You and me both...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has got to be the chapter I've had the most trouble with in a long time. I had writer's block for most of the back half of July and I still sorta have it. The only reason I got this chapter out was because I brute-forced myself into writing it. And the weird thing is, this chapter isn't even all that bad.
> 
> Broad strokes of this chapter, I wanted to highlight the various shows of affection among the characters in this story. It's always been something I'm not very good at since I myself enjoy unconventional shows of affection more. It's hard to explain. I prefer the wake-up-with-a-headache-and-they-arrive-with-aspirin kind of affection rather than the intense-make-out-session-with-cuddles-afterward kind of affection. It's not to say I don't enjoy both, but I tended to lean farther on the unconventional side, making most relationships I've written feel rather chaste and platonic. I've been trying to lean in the other direction and I feel like I'm leaning too hard.
> 
> Nowhere is this more apparent than in my toeing the line between the T and M ratings with Shinka and Sanae's scenes. Part of me feels justified in doing it in the way I did, considering how the tension between them had been building up since they met - and it only increased when they became girlfriends. All that tension had to be released in some way. This is how I decided to do it.
> 
> I'd really like some feedback on it, though. I'm not exactly practiced in this sort of scene. Am I doing something wrong? What am I doing right? I don't really have a good grasp on it. Any feedback would be appreciated.
> 
> The Rikka-centric scene at the start of the chapter is one of the few Rikka-centric scenes in the entire fic. And while I enjoy writing with flowery descriptions I sometimes feel like I need to make it even more flowery to fit with Rikka's personality more which I'm not uncomfortable with. It leaves me with the dilemma of choosing between two things I want in my prose: being tailored to the focus character of a scene and having a good sense of flow. I try my best to balance both and I really hope I did that well in the case of this scene.
> 
> And finally, there's the phone scene which is 100% an excuse to write Touka since she's one of the few characters in the story who have a name that I haven't written yet.
> 
> Welp, this has been a long end-note. Better not make it any longer. Thank you all for reading. Until the next one.


	20. Untimely Embarrassment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello internet, I come back from hiatus to post a new chapter. Consider this your lead-in to Yuuta and Rikka's Tanabata date.
> 
> Enjoy if you can!

It was a Wednesday afternoon, usually an uneventful day in the lives of the average high schooler. Yuuta liked to think he was exactly that, an average high schooler. Unfortunately his Wednesday afternoon was just one event short of actually being uneventful. And the event was not pleasant.

The feeling of humiliation Yuuta felt in the moment was palpable. He teetered on the edge of screaming as Rikka walked circles around him, staring intently. Sanae and Shinka were similarly staring from their corner of the club room. All of their eyes seemed to pierce straight through to his soul, sucking away whatever life remained in his empty husk of a body. And the fact that they were all taking pictures with their phones was not helping.

"Have you found the perfect angle yet?" Yuuta grumbled in annoyance. "My arms are starting to get tired."

"Not quite," Rikka said. "Raise your right elbow slightly higher and push your hips farther to the side... No, that's too much... Actually, just let me." She then pushed his arm and hips to the correct position.

Yuuta's scowled deepened. "Why did I agree to that bet," he groaned.

"Smile, Yuuta! You'll ruin the picture!"

"Yeah yeah."

There was a mock exam earlier that week and the results were posted that Friday. Yuuta wasn't normally one to gamble but he always got this weird feeling of satisfaction whenever he pushed Rikka into working harder on her school work by means of gamifying it. The stipulation was that Yuuta would agree to wear another costume for her if she got a higher score than him, which she did.

If Yuuta was to be honest, he'd say that Rikka's costumes were really stuffy and a little over designed but were undeniably well made. In the past, she had made countless costumes for him under his moniker as the "Dark Flame Master" and all of them fit his vision of what his dark persona would look like - possibly because she based her designs on the scratchy manga drawings he had left in his 'dark notebook'.

However, there was a certain point in the previous year when she had made a magical girl outfit for him, complete with wig and a frilly skirt. She had opted to make him wear one of _those_ costumes again...

And thus, Yuuta leaned forward, with one foot stepped back, one hand pressed against his chin, and his other hand extended outward, likely mimicking some pose a super sentai would make as their enemies explode behind them. Would magical girls even make these types of poses?

"I must say, though, Togashi. You pull off that outfit surprisingly well," Shinka teased.

"Oh, shut up!" Yuuta snapped.

"Yuuta, you're supposed to smile!" Rikka insisted.

Yuuta then sighed. "Right, right..."

"Okay, next you're gonna do _this_ pose. Do as I do," Rikka said as she assumed a battle stance, standing on one leg.

Yuuta groaned as he attempted to copy the pose, Rikka quickly making corrections to his stance.

"Perfect! Now hold still."

"I swear, Rikka-"

"I said hold still! Smile, Yuuta!"

The photoshoot had taken just over an hour and a half - which was an hour too long as far as Yuuta was concerned. Immediately upon its completion, he unceremoniously crumpled to the floor, his limbs feeling like jelly with how much they ached.

Rikka knelt by Yuuta's side and gave him a peck on the cheeks. "That was wonderful, Yuuta. Thank you."

Yuuta gave her a tired smile. "Oh? Yeah, that was absolutely _brilliant_. I'd _love_ to do it again." When he noticed the twinkling of Rikka's eyes as he said this, he quickly added, "That was sarcasm. Please don't take it seriously."

Rikka pouted in response but said nothing.

"It's such a shame we can't sell these photos online," Shinka said as she scrolled through the pictures in her phone. "We would have made quite a profit."

Yuuta rolled his eyes. "I doubt they'd be worth that much."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. A guy cosplaying as a magical girl and he pulls it off as well as you do? Ask the right people and they'd pay an _absurd_ amount of money for pictures."

Yuuta hummed in unease, the idea suddenly sounding very tempting. He quickly swatted the thought away, grabbing on to the very next thought in his mind. "Where did you even learn about this?"

Shinka shrugged. "Internet," she answered vaguely.

Yuuta raised his eyebrows before turning to Sanae who sat next to Shinka, similarly looking at the pictures in her phone. Said girl noticed Yuuta's stare and raised her hands defensively. "Look not at me, Dark Flame Master. My lover or not, what Shinka does in her own time is not my concern."

Yuuta sighed. "Eh, had to try."

There was a moment where the room was filled with only the sound of phone keyboards tapping away. It gave Yuuta a moment to catch his breath and think. In that moment, he wondered once again why the hell he agreed to that bet.

Perhaps he just felt like he was safe from such shame after the countless _other_ bets he had agreed with. Those ones resulted in having to wear costumes that he was much more comfortable with. Though, admittedly, they were also embarrassing in their own right - most of them were an over-designed black and red mess of edginess.

Either way, the reasons wouldn't change the fact that he had to crossdress and there were now countless photos of him in that magical girl costume. Now _that_ was an upsetting thought...

Unaware of Yuuta's internal brooding, Rikka broke the silence that fell upon the room. "I suppose we should let you change now," she said as she stood up and made for the door. "Come, my comrades. Let us give Yuuta some privacy."

To that, Sanae shot upright and gave a stiff salute, followed by Shinka lazily joining her, also standing and saluting.

"Yes! As you command, my Master!"

"Alright then, oh fearless leader."

As the three left the room, Shinka stopped right as she reached the threshold. "By the way, Togashi," she began. "There's nothing wrong with crossplay. And the fact that you look good in it shouldn't embarrass you as much as it does."

Yuuta frowned. It seemed that Shinka had made one of her educated guesses. Again. And somehow she was right on the mark. Again. "Shut up," he muttered weakly. "I know that..."

Shinka shot him a smirk. "Sure you do," she replied with that usual smug tone of hers. "Just making sure."

Her expression then softened. "Don't take it the wrong way, Togashi. You look good in that costume and you should feel good about it. Don't let anyone make you feel otherwise, not even yourself - _especially_ not yourself..."

With that, she finally exited the room, leaving Yuuta to ponder those words. He didn't really know what to do with them, but they weighed heavily on his mind.

* * *

The commute home from school was made in silence which lasted their entire trip - lasting even after getting on the train. No doubt, Yuuta was still brooding on the earlier crossplay incident. Shinka didn't really blame him. He didn't seem to like the idea of it very much in the first place. But still, literally shutting out all communication was a bit drastic of him. She could see the nervous glances Rikka was shooting him during the entire walk to the station. It wasn't pretty.

In the crossplay incident just a year prior, Yuuta just pretended it never happened but in this one he seemed especially upset about it. It couldn't have been about the pictures. They had done these costume photo shoots countless times over the course of the club's lifetime. It's not like those pictures would ever get released anyway. It had to be something else.

But then again, in the previous year, Yuuta had literally thrown Shinka's phone out the window in an attempt to destroy any evidence. Maybe it was the pictures after all?

She then felt a tugging at her sleeve that took her out of her musings. She turned to the source of the tugging, Sanae, who sat next to her on the train.

"We are nearing our destination, Shinka. Clear your clouded thoughts lest we miss our stop."

Was she really out of it for that long? A quick glance outside the window confirmed the statement. Seems like she was.

"Do you think it's the pictures?" Shinka wondered aloud. "The reason why Togashi was as upset as he was?"

Sanae seemed to think for a moment. "Yuuta Togashi is the Dark Flame Master and is inherently drawn to the dark. As you said, a magical girl is a being of light, which is inherently different to everything the Dark Flame Master is. Being forced to don the armor of such a magical warrior, surely it made him uncomfortable. It is no wonder he was upset."

There was a pause where Shinka merely stared at Sanae.

Sanae sighed. "And yes, it was also the pictures."

"I swear, Sanae, the way you can relate real world events to your chuunibyou fantasy and have it still make sense is... let's just say _impressive_."

Sanae raised her head with a prideful smile. "But of course, Shinka Nibutani. Tis' but normal for a being such as I."

For a moment, all that was heard was the train gliding up the tracks, punctuated by the subtle vibrations of the seat. Shinka felt Sanae's hand slip into hers. She enjoyed the warmth they gave.

"By the way, Shinka. When we left to let the Dark Flame Master change, you stayed and said something to him. What was it?"

Shinka glanced around the train car, noting the few students and random adults sitting in some of the seats. It was just empty and quiet enough that they'd hear their conversation if they spoke normally. Some tactful whispering was necessary. She leaned close and spoke softly into Sanae's ears.

"Hmm." Upon hearing what Shinka had to say, Sanae crossed her arms and nodded softly. "It almost seems like you were encouraging him."

Shinka shrugged. "He seemed really down about it. I thought it would help."

"Perhaps you only made it more confusing to him?"

"Actually... now that you mention it..." Shinka turned away, scratching her cheek. "Yeah, that might have been a mistake."

"Mmm, perhaps... Or perhaps not. I'm sure the Dark Flame Master will be able to figure out how to get out of the emotional quagmire he has found himself in. And of course he has the Eye of the Wicked Lord at his side to help him if he so desires."

Shinka chuckled, a wry smile on her face. "In other words, _'Don't worry about it. He should be fine!'_ "

Sanae responded with a smirk and a wink. "You always _were_ too fussy for your own good." Shinka felt a quick squeeze of her hand from Sanae. "But that's always been something I liked about you."

"When did _you_ get so romantic-"

Shinka's words were cut off as the speakers blared. " _Now arriving..._ "

Their conversation was halted by the announcement of their stop. And good thing too. It would have gotten awkward if they weren't interrupted. They were about to slip into affectionate sarcasm which they usually saved for the privacy of their homes or in the club room.

The two stood and waited by the door. When the train came to a stop, they exited.

* * *

 

Once Yuuta and Rikka returned home, it wasn't long before one Satone Shichimiya came knocking on the glass door of the balcony, no doubt having just rappelled down from her apartment one floor above. Rikka was the one who let her in while Yuuta prepared some sandwiches as a snack before dinner. Rikka was also the one who showed Satone the pictures of Yuuta in the magical girl outfit - with Yuuta's permission of course.

"Oh, Hero, you look so _good_! _Hyaaaa~_!" Satone's voice cried from her place on the table.

Yuuta sighed as he began his work on the sandwiches. He seemed to be sighing a lot that day. "Shichimiya, please, stop," he pleaded tiredly. "When I agreed to show you the pictures, I didn't agree to you squealing about it."

Satone beamed. "Nyahaha! I cannot help it but cry, Hero! As a Magical Girl myself, it's only natural that I feel elated to see a kindred spirit." She turned to Rikka. "You made this outfit?"

Across the table, Rikka nodded awkwardly.

"How much would it cost to commission an outfit from you?"

Yuuta and Rikka blinked. Yuuta then put down his slices of bread and waved his arms in alarm. "Wa-wa-wait, you mean you're going to _pay her_?"

Satone raised her eyebrow. "Yes?"

"With _actual money_..."

She was looking steadily more confused. "Yeees...?"

"For _a costume_..."

Satone crossed her arms and frowned. "Yuuta Togashi, from pictures alone I can tell the costume is very well made. If it's true that the Eye of the Wicked Lord created such an outfit then I see no reason why I wouldn't request one for myself. And if she were to do so, it is only fair that she is given just compensation for her efforts."

Yuuta recoiled at the sound of Satone saying his actual name. She only ever used it if she were upset at him.

Rikka tapped Satone on the shoulder. "Sophia, I'll do it but... I don't think I can accept money for this..."

"Nonsense! We live in a world where everything demands compensation. I cannot in good conscience accept your services if I cannot pay you!"

Yuuta and Rikka shared a look of alarm and puzzlement. Was she really turning down an offer for a free costume?

"We'll I don't know how much a costume would cost in the first place..."

Satone nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm... Hero, you're good at math, right?"

Yuuta walked to the table, setting down a plate of ham and cheese sandwiches, humming in thought as he did so. "Hmm, I'm not terrible at it at the very least."

"Brilliant! Rikka, do you still have the receipts for all the materials you used for Hero's magical girl costume?"

Rikka smiled timidly. "Uh... I think so...?"

"Well go get them! We'll need them to figure out how much I'll be paying you."

Rikka got up and made for her room, a concerningly stressed expression on her face. Yuuta sweatdropped at the sight as he took a seat next to where Rikka was once sitting.

"Is all of this really necessary?"

"Nyahahaha!" Satone cackled as she picked up a sandwich and tore a bite out. "You may think it unnecessary now," she said after swallowing, "but figuring out how much your work is actually worth is very important. You'll thank me in the future."

"If you say so..."

The two ate in silence for a time until Rikka arrived and they began their calculations. It was all rather simple, now that Yuuta was actually crunching the numbers. It was all addition - cost of the materials plus the time and effort it took to make the costume. The only thing that really made it difficult was all the materials that _weren't_ used and the fact that " _time and effort_ " didn't have a price tag. They eventually managed to find a number to both of those.

Satone then tapped her phone out of calculator mode and started scrolling through her pictures. "Rikka, do you have an estimate of how long _this_ design would take you to make?" She showed a digital drawing of a dress similar to her usual magical devil girl attire but extra details such as an intricate cloth pattern sewn onto the right sleeve.

"Hmm... maybe three or four days if that's the only thing I'm doing all day?" Rikka said as she took a bite of her own sandwich. "Probably less if I have a base to work with."

"That is impressive speed? You are limited by school, though. So how long would it _really_ take you?"

Rikka scratched her head. "I don't know. A month? I'm really bad at math, Sophia. Please don't ask me to count it in my head."

Satone turned to Yuuta who was already tapping around on his own phone calculator.

"Well, if she works on it for three hours every day," Yuuta began. "She'll take around... ten days to finish it...? That's with breaks in between, of course..."

Satone clapped her hands. "Wonderful. I'll go get my purse. I shall pay you tonight." With that, she made for the balcony and climbed back up to her apartment. There was a pause as they watched her go.

"What was that all about?" Yuuta asked. "She wasn't like that before."

"She started doing commissioned artwork on the internet," Rikka explained. "She seems to really like that she earns her own spending money now. It's one of the reasons why she doesn't hang out with us as often."

"Huh, now that you mention it, I've barely seen her in the past two weeks. Never knew."

More silence followed as the two finished eating their sandwiches, with Satone's still half-eaten on her plate.

"Yuuta... I've been meaning to talk to you..."

Yuuta smiled wryly. This was the first moment they were alone since they got home that day. Rikka certainly didn't waste any time in bringing it up.

"I'm not too upset about it, to be honest," Yuuta said. "Maybe at first I was, but... well, I've been doing some thinking and part of me's started wondering if it isn't so bad."

Rikka blinked. "Yuuta?"

"Like, I know it makes you happy when I wear the costumes you make. And between you, Nibutani, and Shichimiya, I'm pretty much convinced that I look good in the costumes, so..." Yuuta shook his head.

"I'm not saying to make _all_ your costumes for me girly - I'd prefer it if you didn't, actually - but if you make me wear girly outfits again... I guess I wouldn't be as against it as I was before..."

Rikka stared silently at her empty plate, a slight blush on her face. "That... uh... thank you, Yuuta... but... that's not what I was going to talk about..."

Yuuta felt a glass shatter inside him when he heard those words. The entire crossplay incident was not the topic. "Well... Now this is a bit awkward, isn't it...?"

"I'll keep it in mind when I next make a costume for you. In any case, Yuuta, I'd like to ask what our itinerary is for our date this Monday."

The date. He had forgotten about the date. He had been so caught up in the crossplay incident that their Tanabata date went completely out of his mind.

So she wanted to know their itinerary, Yuuta thought. He didn't really have anything planned. And quite frankly, he wasn't even really sure what they could do. The star festival had plenty of things they could do together. They could probably just figure it out when they got there. And it's not like they'd done much festival-going in the first place.

"I was thinking maybe we could just walk around the festival grounds. We haven't really been free to experience Tanabata together since our first year. And back then, we weren't dating yet. What do you think?"

Rikka smiled, nodding. "Okay... That sounds nice..."

Relief flowed into Yuuta as his lazy suggestion was accepted without trouble. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright then."

Rikka didn't look like she knew why Yuuta was laughing but seemed to share in his joy. She chuckled as well.

There was a pleasant silence for a time. The sound of their ticking wall clock counted the seconds that passed by.

Rikka leaned close to Yuuta. "Hey... uh... Yuuta?"

Yuuta raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

She gave him a hopeful stare. "Quick one?"

Yuuta glanced at the balcony. When he confirmed that Satone had not come back yet, he leaned down to give Rikka a peck on the lips. As he pulled away, Rikka surprised him and leaned forward to bring them into another, fuller kiss. His surprise took the form of widened eyes that he eventually closed. He let the comfort and warmth overshadow all other sensations. He found himself lost in the moment.

Then they heard someone whistle, causing both of them to jerk back and retreat to their seats. They turned to the source of the whistle and saw Satone sitting on the balcony railing. She raised her purse, shaking it slightly. Coins clinked within them.

"While I dislike ruining moments as sweet as this one, I'd still prefer to get this transaction done while I still have money to spend."

Yuuta and Rikka awkwardly nodded in agreement. Talk about the costume commission resumed quickly and whatever embarrassment they felt was ignored as best they could.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In-universe, there is 5 days left before Yuuta and Rikka's Tanabata date on July 7. Additional note, there is 17 days before summer break starts on July 20. Another additional note, Touka arrives in Japan from Italy 2 days later on July 22.
> 
> Yuuta looking really feminine is actually a detail that's regularly discussed in the Chu2 light novels. It felt like something that I should address so that's why this chapter exists. I'm sorry if this seems a little out of the blue but to be fair, the show did start a precedent with the whole betting on who gets the higher test scores thing.
> 
> I tied it all into cosplay since it is shown in both the anime and the light novel that the characters have an interest in costumes. Nibutani is regularly shown wearing her theater club costumes in Season 2. Rikka has provided costumes for Yuuta to wear four separate times across both seasons and both volumes of the light novels. The scene where Yuuta is forced to wear a magical girl outfit is in both the anime and the light novel. I could go on but that'd run the risk of reaching a bit too far.
> 
> Never in the show is it explicitly stated that Rikka is the one who makes the costumes. You can argue that they could all just be costumes that she bought online. In fact, in the light novel, she outright buys her costumes from a clothing store specializing in gothic fashion. However, I think it'd be much more interesting if Rikka was the one who made the costumes. I wanted to make it seem like her life, while it revolves around Chuunibyou, isn't limited to what we see her do in the club room.
> 
> And then there's Satone who I decided to turn into an artist that does online commissions. Really, there is no indication whatsoever that she's that type of character but once again, I thought it'd be interesting for the same reason as Rikka's costume making hobby. Anything to flesh out these characters some more.
> 
> Well, I'll end this note here. I will see you all in the next chapter.


	21. Conflicts of Interest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is perhaps the quickest update to this story in a long time. In fact, it took me only three days to write. Here's hoping it's up to snuff with the rest of my writing. Enjoy if you can.

* * *

Saturday came quickly that week and Shinka had to wonder where on earth the last six days went. It was like the camera of her life had been out of focus the entire time she was recording and she only realized it after the fact when she looked at the blurry unwatchable footage. Did she even _do_ anything productive that week? Who even knew? Shinka sure didn't. All of her memories of school had somehow blended together into some incomprehensible mess. It gave her conniptions, honestly.

Those were the unpleasant thoughts that plagued Shinka as she walked her way to the club room. Yuuta and Rikka walked in front of her, talking animatedly about some vaguely interesting topic. For most of the trip, she was too deep in thought to really pay attention to their conversation but the occasional lapses into consciousness allowed her to hear snippets of it.

"What if I don't make the deadline?"

"But there _is no deadline_. She just said she wanted it to exist!"

"I gave her a definite number, Yuuta. That's _pretty much_ a deadline."

"Just relax, Rikka. You have plenty of time."

Shinka watched them curiously. The few words she heard did not have any context whatsoever but it was intriguing nonetheless.

She did not know Rikka to be someone who stressed about deadlines. In fact, this was one of the few times she had ever seen Rikka stressed at all. And all those other times she was stressed were either about personal matters or about the possible disbanding of the club. If it was about school work - or, really, any kind of work -she seemed as if she had no care in the world. What could it be that Rikka was so concerned about?

They soon arrived at the club room and set their bags down in the corner. Shinka pulled out one of her text books and took a seat at the table. After which, she dug into her pockets and dropped a handful of sweets into the bowl in the middle.

"Really?" Yuuta said dryly as he took a seat across from Shinka. "They're all mints?"

Shinka twitched. She hadn't bought enough snacks that week and had to go into her personal reserves to supply their snacks for that day. Of course, explaining that to Yuuta wouldn't really help her case.

"How convenient for you," he grumbled, tearing the wrapper of one of the mints and popping them into his mouth. There was a crunch sound as he immediately bit into it and grimaced.

Shinka raised an eyebrow, unamused by Yuuta's uncharacteristic petulance. Would saying sorry help? Would it even matter? She sighed and also took a mint, deciding to not press the issue any further.

She opened one of her textbooks and continued working on the notes she was writing during class. She spoke idly as she did so. "What were you two talking about earlier? Something about a deadline?"

Rikka arrived at the table, setting down two lunch boxes, passing one of them to Yuuta. Shinka could feel the vibrations as the box slid across the wood. "You're not going to eat, Nibutani?" Rikka asked.

Shinka didn't look up from her work. "I'm waiting for Sanae. Don't let me keep you. Just eat without me."

There was a moment of silence. No doubt Yuuta and Rikka were exchanging glances. Then there was a sigh from both of them. Soon after, they opened their lunch boxes and began eating.

"Rikka got commissioned to make a costume for someone," Yuuta said in between mouthfuls of food. "She told them she'd need three full days to finish it which roughly translates to around two weeks of work."

"Oh?" Shinka muttered in response. "Are you _sure_ you'll be able to finish it in two weeks? We have exams in two weeks."

"Death!" Rikka exclaimed, slamming a fist on the table. "I have consigned myself to death with this deadline I set myself!"

There was an annoyed pause from both Shinka and Yuuta. Was that fist slam really necessary? No it wasn't. They let it slide and resumed what they were doing.

Yuuta sighed. "I'm telling you, you're overreacting. She already told you she doesn't need it right away."

"Who commissioned the work?" Shinka asked, flipping a page of her notebook. "I have a feeling I know..."

"Shichimiya," Yuuta said. "Sophia," Rikka said. The two answered simultaneously.

Shinka felt a smile tug at her lips but otherwise did not betray her satisfaction for guessing correctly. "Is this about the manga she's working on?" she continued, now turning a page of her text book.

Yuuta mumbled something Shinka didn't hear before replying. "I don't know anything about a manga but she was the one who came up with the design."

"There's this manga she's wanted to draw since middle school," Shinka explained. "Last I heard, she finally started working on it. I think she wants to sell it at Comiket this summer."

"Really?" Yuuta asked with genuine surprise. "I never knew. I wonder why she never told us..."

Shinka chuckled. "Then you must never have asked. I don't really think she'd talk about it with you if it weren't relevant."

"Then why did she tell _you_?"

Shinka looked up from her notes to give Yuuta a dry stare. The feeling of betrayal in his voice was slight but undeniable. Well _that's_ different. Whatever could have caused _that_?

"She told me because _I asked_ ," she answered slowly. "She based one of the main characters on me. My face will be on the cover. I have a vested interest in seeing how it goes." She then put down her pen and steepled her fingers. "Tell me, Togashi. Why do you seem so offended that it wasn't relevant to you?"

Yuuta's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he looked away, face flushed. "I... uh..." He scratched his cheek. "Sorry... This past month has been a lot of revelations about my friends that I was never aware of..."

Shinka found herself smirking. Yuuta's cluelessness was finally catching up to him. She shook her head and returned her attention to her notes. "I know the feeling, Togashi. That feeling of unimportance. Of insignificance. It's the very same thing that led me on the path to becoming chuunibyou."

Shinka was met with silence for a moment as Yuuta looked for the right words to say. Perhaps those words never came to him or perhaps he just didn't want to say them. Either way,what he said next felt hollow.

"Same, Nibutani..."

Yuuta resumed eating.

"Same..."

If that was his reply, then Shinka thought it best to just drop the topic. She continued writing her notes, no longer paying the two any mind.

* * *

Sanae was late.

Shinka had waited about an hour and yet her twin-tailed terror of a girlfriend still hadn't shown up. She was forced to eat lunch without Sanae. Sure, she specifically said that she'd wait but dammit, she was hungry and hadn't eaten breakfast. She wasn't about to starve herself on account of some sentimental want to eat with her significant other.

Of course, that wasn't to say she wasn't upset about it. She was _very_ upset. The fact that she wasn't hungry anymore did nothing to alleviate her anger. If anything, it made her more willing to act on said anger.

Which was exactly what Shinka was doing as she stalked towards classroom 2-A on the second floor. She had gone to the shoe lockers first to see if Sanae had already gone home. Upon confirming that Sanae was in fact still in school, she made a beeline for Sanae's classroom. She reached it quite quickly.

Shinka knocked on the door and entered. "Good afternoon. Sorry for the disturbance." She scanned the room for Sanae as the remaining second years students stared at her, confused.

"Are you looking for someone, senpai?" one of the second years said.

"Yes. Do you know where Sanae Dekomori went?"

"Oh! She was brought to the nurse's office. She was running down the stairs and tripped. Got a bunch of cuts and bruises."

Immediately Shinka's anger was quenched, instead replaced with a nigh crippling amount worry. "That absolute utter moron," she muttered to herself, sounding more wry and bemused than she actually felt.

She thanked the second year who told her about Sanae and exited the room. A brisk walk later, she found herself in the nurse's office. Said nurse merely nodded at her and pointed towards one of the beds, already aware of who Shinka was looking for. How refreshingly concise.

She thanked the nurse and made for the specified bed.

"Sanae?" she said as she looked past the curtain. Said girl was sitting at the side of the bed, rubbing the bandages on her forehead. Further inspection showed that she also had bandages on her left cheek, left forearm, and right shin.

"Hey," Shinka greeted, still too taken back by the physical state of her girlfriend to say anything more eloquent.

Sanae smiled sheepishly. "H-hey... There were... extenuating circumstances for my absence during lunch. The results are rather obvious." She gestured to herself, as if to prove her point. "I apologize."

Shinka shook. "You are an idiot," she growled. "What were you thinking, running down the stairs?"

Sanae continued smiling, obviously unsure how to react. "Yes. I was very foolish... Also... uh... Shinka..." She outstretched her arms. "You don't need to hold back, you know."

Shinka's frown deepened. "Is that an invitation to a hug or a punch to the face? Because I have the urge to do both."

"H-hug...?"

"You are very lucky I love you," Shinka grumbled, stepping forward and pulling Sanae into a tight embrace.

* * *

After lunch, they had gotten into a huge argument. Sanae wanted to come over to Shinka's house. Shinka wanted Sanae to go home and rest. This disagreement almost immediately got heated and was sustained for the entire commute. But it was all a clever ploy, though. They had taken the train and got off at Shinka's stop. By the time Shinka realized what had happened, they had already walked halfway towards Shinka's house.

"You sly little rat," Shinka muttered "You're really stubborn, you know that?"

Sanae smiled slyly. "And so are you. What of it?"

Shinka bit her tongue and kept walking. She didn't trust herself to continue the argument. Something had snapped within her and any attempt to continue would result in her doing things she knew she'd regret.

The rest of the walk was spent in tense silence - a silence that followed them all the way to Shinka's room wherein she collapsed face first into her bed. Shortly after, Sanae joined her in lying down, waves coursing through the mattress.

Part of Shinka honestly wanted to be touched by Sanae's actions. She was injured but was willing to endure to be with Shinka. It was incredibly romantic. The only problem was that it was also incredibly stupid. If only Shinka was able to separate those two aspects of the entire ordeal then maybe she'd be less angry.

She wasn't even all that angry anymore. The whole argument had drained her somewhat of that emotion and all that was left was this dull unpleasant numbness - the smoldering ash left by a raging inferno that burned itself out.

And among those ashes, a certain clarity was achieved.

Shinka rolled over to her side to look at Sanae. "Hey," she muttered.

Sanae also rolled over, her eyes meeting with Shinka's. They glowed the same ethereal blue that they normally did when they were alone together. If Shinka were to continue staring, she was sure get lost in the light. She had to avert her gaze.

"You know, there was a much easier way to end our argument," Shinka said softly. "And it wouldn't have involved tricking me into bringing you to my house."

"I am aware that there were wiser courses of action," Sanae said, smiling wryly. "None come to mind, though. Enlighten me."

"Why didn't we just go to _your_ house instead?"

There was a pregnant pause as the logic of those words dawn on Sanae. The genuine surprise on her face was something to marvel. Shinka couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, the whims of fate are fickle," Sanae said.

"We can still go, though. Nothing's stopping us from just leaving right now."

Sanae didn't reply for several seconds, prompting Shinka to finally look Sanae straight in the face once more. There was a certain twinkle in Sanae's eyes that gave Shinka an edge of worry.

Just as Shinka was about to ask what was with the concerning expression on Sanae's face, the girl rolled forward and pinned Shinka to the bed. "I wouldn't quite say there's _nothing_ stopping us."

Shinka bit her lip. If Sanae wasn't injured, she would have received a quick and decisive shove. The little hellion took full advantage of her current state to leave Shinka effectively powerless. Not that she wasn't regularly in such a position in the first place. It was just that usually she was perfectly happy to be such. Thus, it was strange to be in a situation where that was not the case.

Shinka sighed. Perhaps there was a way to avoid getting caught up in it all? "You're being especially mean-spirited today. I don't assume you're willing to just back down, are you?"

Shinka felt Sanae's hands on her shoulders give her a slight squeeze. "I'm afraid not, love. You know me well enough. I'd have assumed it was a given." She then leaned down until their noses touched. "Though... I suppose I'll hold back if you truly don't wish to continue."

Shinka felt goosebumps from the contact. Her mind immediately went blank, transfixed by the blue in her eyes, the breaths against her lips, and the weight on her chest. She could just feel her self-control crumble in the wake of such stimulus.

Shinka smiled wryly, putting her hands on Sanae's cheeks. "Oh, just shut up and kiss me."

* * *

Shinka sat the kitchen table with Sanae, silently biting down any indignant remarks she wanted to say.

Shinka's mother had arrived early that day for some reason - something about a doctor's order for two days of rest? In any case, Shinka was a bit too occupied with certain unmentionable activities with Sanae and did not hear when her mother announced her arrival. Imagine her surprise when her mother knocked and entered her room and caught them in the act. It was outright mortifying.

Thus, the two sat at the kitchen, silent as they were scolded by the woman about the advantages of communication and how she would have been a lot less upset with them if they had simply _told her_ that they were dating. And after that was a long tirade about the public view of lesbians in Japanese society and the various other safety concerns for women who love other women. The sermon ended up taking over an hour which, as far as Shinka was concerned, was an hour too long.

"In any case, I'm glad to know that Shinka has found love," Shinka's mother said. "I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't a boy, though."

Shinka sighed. " _Mom_..."

"It's the truth, Shinka. I'm disappointed and nothing will change that."

"She's _right here_ , Mom. Have some tact. Please."

The woman turned to Sanae. "I meant it as no offence, dear. The thought that my daughter won't have children in the future is not pleasant."

"No offence taken, Ma'am," Sanae replied awkwardly.

The woman sighed. "Well, I suppose this isn't completely terrible. There is no threat of her getting pregnant early if she's dating a girl."

" _Mom!_ "

"Sanae Dekomori, was it? You love my daughter, yes? Would you be willing to step down if a man were to court her in the future?"

"Mom, you're going over the line!"

Sanae maintained a strained smile. "I very much doubt she'll find anyone else who she'll take a liking to..."

"Is that a _no_ , Dekomori?"

"It is a _no_ , Ma'am. I'm sorry."

The woman pouted. "Stubborn child." Her expression softened. "Fiiine. If you think your love will last then who am I to try and stop you? If it lasts then it lasts. May you two find happiness together."

There was a pause as the two parsed those words. Did she just give them her blessing? Was that what she had said?

Shinka palmed her face, groaning. "Mom, why do you always have to be so difficult?"

"Dear, I'm being _perfectly reasonable_. There are countless reasons for me to be concerned by your relationship and you must be aware of those reasons for your own safety."

Shinka glowered as she removed her hands from her face. She then sighed. It was clear now that was nothing she could say about the topic that her mother couldn't refute. They'd just argue themselves to the ground if they continued.

"I suppose that's the last of this topic," Shinka's mother said, as if aware of Shinka's thoughts. She stood and moved to the fridge. "I'll get to work on dinner. You two are free to resume your... _earlier activities_ if you want..."

Shinka sighed again, taking Sanae's hand and dragging her back to the bedroom.

"Is your mother a shade or some similar being that radiates magical fear?" Sanae asked from the bed as Shinka locked her door. "Because she's terrifying."

"She's _not_ terrifying," Shinka spat. "She's _annoying_. She's stubborn as a mule, condescending about every topic, and unpredictable to the point of being predictable about it. I have to deal with her everyday and I'm surprised I haven't lost my mind yet."

She heard Sanae giggle and glared at her. "What's so funny?"

Sanae smiled mischievously. "You and you mother are quite alike, Shinka."

Shinka's frown deepened. "Oh, shut up."

"All things considered, she's at least not against us."

"No, she _is_ against us. She's just not invested enough to do anything about us. Besides, she thinks it'll be interesting to see how things go. That's how she's always been."

"Hmm. Perhaps that's where the similarities end. Otherwise, I expect she'd try and meddle in our affairs like you always do with Master and her lover."

" _Shut up,_ Sanae!" Shinka snapped.

Sanae stood up and pressed her hands against Shinka's cheeks, holding her in place. "Breath, Shinka... Inhale... Hold... Exhale..."

Shinka grit her teeth but complied. As a slow stream of air exited her lungs, she felt herself relax slightly. Sanae smiled when she noticed this.

"Your anger has clouded your judgement. Would you believe that I felt killing intent as you spoke to me earlier? It is not a joke."

Shinka's expression softened. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Sanae pulled Shinka towards her until they were mere inches apart. "You are human. Feel your emotions but don't let them consume you."

"Quoting my own book at me," Shinka grumbled. She closed her eyes. "She does it on purpose, you know? Needling me. Making me angry."

"Of course she does," Sanae said with a dismissive chuckle. She leaned forward and touched her nose with Shinka's. "Let it not bother you, Shinka. Let my energy help you achieve equilibrium."

A sense of calm washed over Shinka. She couldn't quite explain it. The combination of Sanae's presence, the soothing tone of her voice, and their physical contact seemed to bring Shinka an amount of solace that she couldn't quite fathom.

Shinka opened her eyes as they separated. "You shouldn't be allowed to act this cool," she muttered, the complaint sounding half-hearted even to herself.

Sanae blinked before smiling. "Balance must remain. If one of us is weak then the other must be strong for the other. I'm glad to finally be able to repay the favor..."

Shinka flashed back to that day, nearly two years ago. That day when Rikka said she was disbanding the club... abandoning chuunibyou... abandoning Sanae... She remembered the feeling of Sanae's arms wrapped around her, sobbing against her chest, babbling incoherently about a master who had gone.

"I'm not being weak," Shinka muttered weakly.

"Sure you're not," Sanae replied, cupping a hand on Shinka's chin. "It's just a momentary lapse of power." She leaned in for a kiss.

Shinka closed her eyes once more and let Sanae take the lead as she usually did...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of me has been wondering what it is about late October and early November that causes me to be able to pump out chapters at the rate that I do. Even now as I write this end note, nearly 1000 words of the next chapter have already been written and chapters for this fic are usually 3000-4000 words.
> 
> Regarding this fic as a whole, at the pace I'm going through this story, my original plan of ending it at chapter 26-28 has taken an unfortunate turn. Good news, more chapters. Bad news, the actual ending might take me another year to reach if I maintain my once-a-month-usually update schedule. Here's hoping it doesn't get pushed back again.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. T'was fun writing it. Until the next one!


End file.
